Is a chimney crown needed?

[para]

Currently renovating the chimney, slip casting and repointing above the ridge. It turned out that the crown was cracked through, so the question is whether I should spend money to have the craftsmen cast a new one or not. I will still have a new chimney cap that will go down 5-10cm from the topmost brick course instead.

The chimney is high up and barely visible, so aesthetically it doesn't matter, but is there any other disadvantage to skipping the crown?

 

[krösemaja]

How did it turn out in the end? Did you skip the crown?
I am in the process of doing the same thing as you. However, I need to rebuild the entire chimney above the ridge. I thought of course that a new crown should be added too. But since a cap will now be installed, which was not there before, it should probably be possible to skip the crown. The link below seems to give a good example of what I have in mind. See under the heading "Concrete hats or a brick corbel-which is best"

http://www.kanerva.se/skorstenslagning.html

 

[MaxPax]

Absolutely no concrete crown is needed if you're going to have a metal cap. Overhang á lá canerva gets my vote, that's what I do.

 

[para]

Just became metal. Tore down the concrete crown.

 

[peternicklas]

Of course, one should have a crown on a chimney.

 

[krösemaja]

Why is it so clear, peternicklas? Aesthetic reasons?

Thanks para for the picture!

My house is white mexitegel and the plan is to clad the entire chimney. Real brick doesn't fit with the otherwise white facade, and I can't be bothered to find new mexi. Any possible corbelling would also be for aesthetic reasons.

 

[MaxPax]

Cantilevering causes water running off the hood to land further from the chimney wall, thereby slightly reducing the risk of problems in the future.

 

[Lillkerstin]

Just got sheet metal. Took down the concrete crown.

[image]

We have a cap like that on the chimney, regular fires, soot gets stuck under the cap and falls down the ventilation pipes, dirtying walls and wallpaper, not good, never happened with just the crown.

 

[para]

We have one of those caps on the chimney, regularly light fires, soot sticks under the cap and falls down the ventilation pipes, soils walls and wallpaper, not good, never happened with just the crown.

9 years since we installed the cap now and it works without problems.
If you're getting so much soot, maybe you're lighting fires incorrectly?

 

[MrJay]

@para, what is the height of yours? I suspect that the others have too low a crown that can't handle the amount of smoke and soot.

 

[Lillkerstin]

9 years since we installed the hood now and it's working without a problem.
If you're getting so much soot, maybe you’re burning wrong?

No, we're not burning wrong according to the chimney sweep, but soot gets stuck under the metal plate and then falls into the ventilation. According to the chimney sweep, it's a common problem that can be avoided by attaching an extension pipe up at the actual chimney stack. I would preferably like to remove the protective hood and make a nice wreath.