This is the roof view for a recent inspection (and yes, it was a beast because these aren’t the only chimneys I had to inspect.) Everything looks pretty good, but a little closer look revealed that there was slight deflection behind the center chimney.
It was hard to see, but it made me curious about what I’d find in the attic. After spending way too much time in the attic, and climbing over, around, and through a lot of things that I normally would not navigate, I made quite a few interesting discoveries.
I first found a chase that was lacking proper covering.
I then noticed that the elbow was not strapped to the framing, as required by the manufacturer (which helps support the weight of the chimney.)
I then noticed the repairs, moisture stains, and questionable clearance around the chimney. It was at this point that I realized that I was looking at an attempt to support approximately one ton of bricks on the roof decking.
Stepping back to get an overall view showed me that there had been some obvious issues here before, and the evidence of their repair attempts was clear for all to see (and their friendly neighborhood home inspector to document is his inspection report!)
It’s a good thing that I put forth the effort to get to this (almost inaccessible) part of their chopped-up attic. Missing something this significant surely would’ve ended badly, as repairing something like this is likely to cost several thousands of dollars.
