Chimney Cricket Installation

What This Service Involves

On the rainy side of the Cascades, water and fir needles pile up behind a wide chimney and pond against the brick until they find a way inside. A cricket is a small peaked structure built on the uphill side that splits that flow and channels it cleanly around both sides of the chimney. We frame and flash the cricket so it sheds continuously and never traps the organic debris our evergreens shower down all year. Building codes call for crickets on chimneys wider than thirty inches, and for good reason in a climate this wet.

Benefits

Diverts rainwater and debris away from the vulnerable uphill face; prevents ponding and the leaks it causes on wide chimneys; keeps needle and moss buildup from collecting behind the stack; satisfies code requirements for chimneys over thirty inches wide

Our Process

1) Measure the chimney width and roof pitch to size the cricket; 2) Frame the peaked cricket structure on the uphill side; 3) Sheath, underlay, and flash it into the surrounding roof; 4) Integrate shingles and test that water sheds cleanly around both sides

What Affects the Cost

Width of the chimney and resulting cricket size; roof pitch and framing complexity; flashing metal and materials specified; integration with existing roofing or a new reroof; access and labor at the chimney location

Best Time of Year

Install a cricket in the dry summer season, ideally alongside a reroof, so the framing and flashing are complete before wet weather.