How to "seal" bricks and metal water leak?

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Batman

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#191702 13-Feb-2016 09:28

Since the sky dish has been bolted to the chimney water drips down the chimney when it rains. [I did ask for it to be bolted there as it looked the most secure place]. Chimney is a standard brick type. I think he should have drilled upwards so that water can't get in, rather than horizontal. I think here are my options:

1. Terminate sky, get them to remove the dish, seal the holes. Wait, ask to reinstall, make sure they drill upwards. Will that sealing process 100% work?

2. Is there a squeezy product that you can squirt that will 100% seal mortar (I presume brick = mortar?) and metal? How long will it last? Troublesome to reapply when it reaches its use-by?

3. Build some kind of flashing/box around and over that thing - sounds complicated.

Thanks. It's 7 months ago so my sky is off contract.

k1w1k1d

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#1491529 13-Feb-2016 10:57

Obviously not in Christchurch. Most of the "secure" chimneys around my area failed about five years ago.

Have you been up on the roof and closely examined the chimney for broken bricks or mortar?

Did the installer drill right through the bricks for the mounting bolts?

Fred99

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#1491536 13-Feb-2016 11:09

It seems a bit strange that the installer would have drilled right through a brick chimney to mount a dish. Are you sure that the water isn't coming down from the top? Even with correct flue capping, if it's raining/blowing you'll get some water coming down the flue. It shouldn't cause a problem.

What kind of fasteners were used? Drilling up at an angle means that the fastener head would have been at an angle.

It may be that you can put some silicone RTV (neutral cure) by removing the fasteners, filling the holes with it, then replacing the fastener. Mask off around the hole with some tape so you don't smear silicone sealant on the visible face of the bricks. Best in some cases if you can re-tighten almost tight, leave for 24 hours or so then go back and tighten the last bit - that way the RTV has cured and you've put pressure on the formed gasket seal rather than relying on how well it sticks to the substrate. That should work for ever in that application.

Batman

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#1491537 13-Feb-2016 11:11

I'll shoot water at the installation point to see if it reproduces the water drip ...

Fred99

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#1491546 13-Feb-2016 11:34

joker97:

I'll shoot water at the installation point to see if it reproduces the water drip ...

That should work.

k1w1k1d:

Obviously not in Christchurch. Most of the "secure" chimneys around my area failed about five years ago.

Yup. Ours was substantial - about 1.5m wide x 1m deep, extended about 2m above roof level. Survived the Sept quake with no visible damage. EQC assessors checked it on about Feb 20th, to see if there was any cracking, any movement, and that the flashings were all intact. They gave it their seal of approval, then two days later it fell over - doing over $60,000 worth of damage, and a 50:50 chance I'd have been killed (it fell outwards due to luck - if it had fallen inwards it would have landed on my head. This was double-brick, unreinforced, constructed in 1962. I estimate the top section which fell in one piece weighed about 3 tonnes.

There is or was a guy in Ferry Road who makes lightweight faux chimney tops for cases where people wanted to preserve the architectural feature on old character homes etc. No open fires allowed in Chch, so they'd work with an internal SS flue. They looked just like the real thing. I presume in many cases, fit on top of existing chimney cut back to ceiling level. Then at least if the old chimney crumbled in a quake, it's a hell of a lot better than having a few tonnes of bricks falling on you from a height.

wellygary

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#1491549 13-Feb-2016 11:38

Some form of silicone is probably your best bet to prevent the water getting in,