Made from galvanized steel, stainless steel, or aluminum, a chimney cricket can be excellent protection against water infiltration of your chimney. Shaped like a triangle or other shape with angled sides, a chimney cricket has a ridge on its top, and when water meets the cricket, the water automatically flows down the angled sides and away from your chimney.
For an example of its importance, think about your roof and chimney in the winter. When the temperatures drop below freezing and it snows, the water from melting snow flowing down your roof eventually refreezes, and if you have a problem with water accumulating around your chimney, you could end up with that water freezing behind your chimney, which causes an ice dam.
An ice dam is a large amount of ice that prevents water from flowing down the roof and possibly causes water penetration into your chimney and roof. If you are unable to access your roof to see behind your chimney, hire a home inspector or other chimney professional to do a proper examination of the area to see if a chimney cricket is needed behind your chimney.
If a chimney cricket is needed, hire the proper professional to do the work for you, and have it inspected upon completion of the work or repair. You must be logged in to post a comment. All rights reserved. Terms of Use Find an Inspector.
Some contractors may install a rolled ridge vent if the roof line requires it. While a crevice between the chimney and the downward slope of the roof might not seem like a big deal, lingering pools of water can cause expensive damage.
Common issues that arise for many homeowners are foundational problems in basements, leaky attics, structural issues made evident in stains that appear on walls, and chimneys that leak or have cracks in their masonry. A chimney cricket disrupts the flow of water because of its sharply angled sides. Because its shaped like a three-dimensional triangle, the flowing rainwater is channeled down the abruptly angled sides, never touching your chimney as it descends off of your roof.
During the winter, a chimney without a cricket behind it invites snow and ice to pile in this sneaky spot. An ice dam is a heavy amount of ice that prevents water from properly running down your roof.
Water can penetrate into your chimney and your roof if an ice dam forms, but a chimney cricket can prevent this from occurring because it curbs water from pooling at the base of the chimney altogether.
If you think about it, installing a chimney cricket is a small act in preventing vast water damage. Some building codes require that a chimney cricket is installed on chimneys, especially if the chimneys are larger with over width 30 inches.
It did not serve a purpose. Crickets are never needed…IMHO they were invented to solve a problem of poor crafstmanship. Oh wait…you said chimney cricket….
Hi, I would like to see someone who is not a craftsman put one in. Hi :mrgreen: Around here the framers started doing it on new home const because the roofers couldnt flash the chimneys right.
I have only seen them on houses built from the early 90s and up. BYE :mrgreen:. Shingle monkey, Here ya go. Looks great for 90 years old Of course there are exceptions to everything, I was just giving my opinion on what I have seen in the Indy area for the last 13 years.
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