I have water leaking I believe through my chimney into my basement. The chimney is on the outsidewall my deck is built up to the chimney. There is flashing and the ground under the deck is graded properly. Right below the upstairs fireplace in the familyroom in the basement is a vermont casting gas fireplace with a stone wall that gets wet also. The vermont casting fireplace seems to be plummed into the upstaris chimney. My contractor, yes I checked him out, very well know company, said that the chimney needs to be sealed and I need a proper cap instead of the mickey mouse one that the previous owner put together. He also mentioned something about checking the chimney cricket for possible leaking. What is that?
We do not have a clean out, below the chimney brick floor on the first floor is a room that is not accessible, bricked off where the ashes are dumped into. Any suggestions??

In general, brick can vary in permeability, or the ability to soak up water...some do it hardly at all, others are like sponges. So, the first thing I'd look at is the brick the chimney is made of...often builders use "common brick", which were never intended to be exposed to the weather, because they are rustic looking. If the brick is highly permeable, it can be painted with a solvent-type acrylic coating, which will repel water from outside, yet allow moisture to pass out through the coating. Ordinary paints or sealers will not allow moisture to pass out through them.

Second, look at the cricket, if there is one. The cricket is usually a very small sloping roof element made of a metal, which directs water which is running down the sloping roof away from or around the chimney. Some metals can erode or rust away, others, like stainless steel or copper, will not. Have a roofer who knows what he is doing look at the cricket and chimney flashing, and don't let them smear black icky stuff all over it. If there is something wrong with it, have it replaced properly.

Those are the two major sources of water entry into chimneys.

Thanks! The brick is common and seems tobe porus..sorry for spelling.
My contractor, builds custom homes from the ground up,and has a crew that works just with brick fireplaces and roofs. The plan is to sel it, so I will mention the solvent-type acrylic coating. My brother had mentioned that I should make sure whatever they use it needs to breath. I see so many painted white....big no no. I'm still not sure what a cricket is, but there is metal flashing around the chimney at the roof line so the water goes down the roof and into the gutters. Definitely no black sticky stuff, but I will make sure they use the proper caulking. I think replacing the mickey mouse cap will also help, I've also noticed some water on the firplace floor on the first floor.

Thanks again. Great advice and I will talk to my contractor.

Good luck. What I meant was to not let them smear anything on the flashing. If the flashing has somehow failed, it should be redone, and the reason for the failure should be diagnosed first. Here is a link to a coating product for the bricks that I have had a history of almost 40 years of use:
http://www.mabpaints.com/pdf/techdata/p1%20modac%20f%20019%20line.pdf

Is the water comming from inside the chimney liner or running down the face of the chimney? How soon after a rain does the water enter? fairly quick or several hours later?

1.If the water is coming from inside the chimney and happens quite quickly after a light to heavy rain its the chimney cap most likely.
2. If the water enters only after a heavy rain quite quickly or very shortly after the heavy rain starts the chimney cap may be the issue but most likely the flashing.
3. If the water enters several hours after a heavy long term rain again flashing then maybe the brick soaking up the rain and dripping inside.

To answer your question further about the cricket.
its a small roof that is A shaped that is installed as a right angle to the roof that faces and butts up to the chimney. This little mini roof will cause the water that runs down the main roof to devert to each side of the chimney. If the builder mad this cricket to small or did not flash it correctly the water can enter behind and between the wall at each corner. The result is water entry on each side of the chimney. Very common mistake. As Richard said it can be made of metal or it can be also be roofed like the main roof to blend in.

The water that I see on the floor of the first floor fireplace always seems to be on the right front corner the wall is not wet. There's not usually a lot of water, There's more in the basement, almost in the same location as the firplace directly above. Keep in mind, the one in the basement is a vermont casting gas model, the water in the basement seeps through the stone on the wall, not red brick, and ends up finding a path in the same place every time. Of course, now that the carpet has been pulled up and it has rained several times, very hard, there is no water????????????? We did just have 3 very tall trees taken down that was 15-20 ft from the chimney?
Sometimes it's fairly quickly and sometimes it's a few hours later.

My husband was up there checking out the cap, that's when we found out it eas not the right fit and mickey moused. He doesn't remember seeing anything resembling a cricket. Maybe that's the problem.

Thanks for all the information. I don't like not being informed about the work being done on my house. This is our 3rd house the first two I was not informed nor did I do any research into the work being done on my house. Thanks again!

KG

Hi All,
I wanted to give you a update on my chimney.
They found that the cricket and flashing was not installed properly. All had to be removed and replaced as well as 2 bundles of shinles.

In doing this they found that there is no felt under the shingles. So much for the city of worcester inspecting the house when it was built. The codes says there is suppose to be felt under the shingles. Is it worth going after the city, they are 30 yr artch shingles that have just lost the warranty and probably 5 yrs of life.

Suggestions ....

I think you may find that the city is indemnified and pretty much untouchable, but you certainly ought to be after the builder and/or the roofer. The burden of code compliance is usually on the homeowner and his contractors. Building inspectors can reasonably miss such items when the roofing is completed between inspections. If you had a contract for the entire home, or the roofing work, that required the builder or roofer to conform to all applicable codes, then you should have a case against at least one of them.