Why We Added A Cricket Behind This Chimney
This article is adapted from Mikel Wallesen's video above.
Read the video transcript
A common issue we see on older homes involves how the roof interacts with the chimney. If your house was built thirty or more years ago, there is a good chance your roof was not designed to handle modern drainage standards.
I recently worked on a project where the roof tiles ran directly into the back wall of the chimney. This might not sound like a problem, but it creates a massive trap for water and junk. Over three decades, this specific roof collected a thick layer of dirt, pine needles, and leaves right against the brick.
When debris sits there, it acts like a sponge. It holds moisture against your roofing materials and the chimney structure itself. Eventually, that moisture finds a way into your home.
The Problem With Flat Spots and Ponding
When a roof is built so that it slopes directly into a flat vertical surface like a chimney, the water has nowhere to go. It hits that wall and stops. We call this ponding.
Water is heavy. If it sits in one spot instead of flowing off the roof, it eventually rots out the wooden deck underneath your tiles or shingles. In the case of the home we just finished, the original installers just laid the tile right up against the back of the chimney.
This meant for thirty years, every time it rained, a mini pond formed behind the chimney. The underlayment, which is the water resistant paper layer under your tiles, eventually failed because it was never meant to be submerged for days at a time.
Why You Need a Chimney Cricket
To fix this properly, we do not just put new paper down and call it a day. We have to change how the water moves. We do this by building what is called a cricket.
A cricket is a small, peaked structure built behind the chimney. Think of it like a mini roof that sits on top of your main roof. It starts at a high point in the center and slopes down toward both sides of the chimney.
By installing this, we ensure that when water runs down the roof toward the chimney, it hits that peak and gets diverted. Instead of hitting a wall and sitting there, the water now flows around both sides of the chimney and continues down to the gutters. It keeps the area dry and prevents debris from piling up in a dead zone.
If your roof is hitting that twenty or thirty year mark, you need to know if your chimney was flashed correctly or if it is just a ticking time bomb for a leak. We can climb up there and take a look at your drainage to make sure water is moving where it should.
Call Big Red Roofing today to schedule a free inspection.
