We have had water leaking around our fireplace since we built our house 4 years ago. I have a 2 story house, with a full mason chimney. one leak is on the ceiling above the fireplace on our first floor, the other is below the fireplace in the basement. The leak seams worse on driving rains. The leak in the basement has water rolling down the back wall and under where the frame meets the foundation, which is above grade. builder has had roofer, siders, and the mason out several times. We have replaced the cap once, ref lashed 3 times, they have removed the bottom 4 feet of the fireplace 2 times but I am still getting water. Our builder and mason have gone out of business and I am looking for advise on who best to hire to track down the leak?
When my brick chimney leaked, I had a mason come out. He installed a concrete cap on the top of the chimney, pretty ugly, but it stopped the leak for five years. Next time it leaked, I had a local mason install a stainless steel cap over the chimney, plus he fixed the deteriorated flashing by using bituminous caulk. Probably should have sprung for all new lead flashing, but it is expensive because of the work to remove bricks etc. My guess is you have a flashing problem, obviously the people who installed would have been the most knowlegeable about what problem they created, but since they are out of business, you probably need a new mason, maybe a competent one this time. Sorry for your troubles, but it sounds like flashing is a likely candidate, maybe the cap.
Hard to say anything without pictures of the entire chimney at the exterior.
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