MasonryCrowns & Repointing
Cracked crowns recast and worn joints ground out and refilled before winter gets into them.
- Poured crowns
- Matched mortar color
- Top course rebuilds
24 hours dispatch · Belmont
Belmont Chimneys, Relined & Rebuiltfor the Way You Heat NowChimney liners, slate roof flashing, two-family stacks and brick steps in Belmont, Arlington, Watertown and West Cambridge
Most Belmont houses went up between 1900 and 1940, with clay-tile flues sized for coal or oil. Plenty of them have since switched to a gas boiler, a high-efficiency furnace or heat pumps, and the chimney rarely gets a second thought. That's how a 90-year-old flue ends up venting a small water heater, or standing unused and soaking up rain. Belmont Chimney & Masonry works from Brighton Street near the Alewife line, fitting liners, flashing slate and rebuilding brick, with dispatch answering 24 hours.
1920sclay flues
Slatesafe crews
24 hrsdispatch
Liner going in · Belmont
9:41
BM
Belmont Chimney
Line open
Text dispatch
Pick a situation
Oil out, gas or heat pumps in
New heating system, same old flue
An old oil burner sent hot exhaust up a wide flue. A modern boiler or water heater sends cooler, wetter gas up the same space, and it condenses before it reaches the top. Without the right liner, that moisture eats the mortar from inside.
White staining and crumbling tiles
Efflorescence on the outside brick or bits of clay tile at the cleanout usually mean condensation inside. A sized liner fixes it.
An orphaned water heater
When the boiler moves to a side-wall vent, the water heater is left alone in a flue built for something three times its size. It may not draft well, so it needs a smaller liner.
Chimneys with nothing left to vent
After a full switch to heat pumps, an unused chimney still takes on rain. We cap it, seal the crown, or take it down below the roofline with your roofer.
Paperwork for the gas permit
Heating contractors and inspectors often want the flue checked before signing off. We send camera footage and a written report.
Small heater in an oversized flueCondensing
Sized stainless linerDrafting
Brighton Street base
Between Fresh Pond and Belmont Hill
We're at 26 Brighton St, just off Route 2 near Alewife, so Arlington, West Cambridge and the Belmont squares are all a short drive. Pick a neighborhood to see roughly how long the truck takes.
Heading toCushing Square
Roughly5 min
Choose a neighborhood
Call picked up
Crew rolls from Brighton St
Text when close
Chimney looked over
Times are typical from 26 Brighton St. Route 2 at rush hour and Alewife traffic can add a lot, so dispatch gives you a real time on the phone.
Slide to compare
Two Belmont chimneys, start to finish
The faded side shows the chimney when we arrived; the other side is the finished job. Drag across the photo, or tab to it and use the arrow keys.
One stack, two boilers, two owners
This chimney vented both units' boilers. Years of condensation had softened the mortar until the top courses came loose. Both owners agreed on one rebuild from the roofline up, with a liner for each flue.
- Brick
- Rebuilt above roof
- Flues
- Two stainless liners
- Top
- Crown and twin-flue cap
Rebuilt while the roof was open
The roofer called us when tear-off showed the chimney was soaked and crumbling under the moss. With the roof already open, we rebuilt it and flashed it into the new roof in the same week.
- Brick
- New chimney
- Roof tie-in
- Step & counterflashing
- Top
- Stainless cap
Seeing the "before" on your own roof? Call (617) 923-7543.
Tar patches at the rooflineLeaking again
Slate reset, copper flashingSealed for decades
Tudors, Colonial Revivals & two-families
Slate roofs and steep rooflines
Working on slate without breaking it
Many houses on Belmont Hill and around Belmont Center still have slate roofs. We work from ladder hooks and roof brackets, slip out the slates around the chimney, and set them back over new flashing.
Copper that outlasts the patch
Step flashing woven into the slate, plus counterflashing cut into the mortar joints, replaces years of tar and caulk.
Shared chimneys in two-families
In Cushing Square, Waverley and Payson Park, one chimney often serves both units. We write up what each flue needs so both owners can plan the work together.
Tall stacks above two and a half stories
Third-floor dormers and steep pitches put a lot of chimney in the wind. We stage it safely and rebuild loose tops before they drop.
What we do
Chimney care from the cleanout to the cap
For Belmont's Colonial Revivals, Tudors, bungalows and two-family houses, plus neighboring Arlington, Watertown and Cambridge.
Masonry
LeaksChimney Flashing
Copper or aluminum step flashing and counterflashing on slate, asphalt and cedar roofs.
- Slate-safe work
- Reglet-cut counterflashing
- Storm tarping
CapsCaps & Cap-Offs
Stainless caps for working flues, and full cap-offs for chimneys retired after a heat pump switch.
- Multi-flue caps
- Retired chimney seals
- Below-roof removal
AnimalsRaccoon & Squirrel Screens
We confirm the flue is empty, clear the nest and screen it so animals can't get back in.
- Nest removal
- Heavy mesh
- Damper checks
ReportsInspections for Sales & Permits
Camera inspections with written reports for buyers, sellers and gas or heating permit sign-offs.
- Level 2 camera work
- Video kept on file
- Fast turnaround
FireplacesSweeping & Firebox Repair
Wood-burning fireplaces swept, firebrick replaced and stuck dampers freed or swapped for a top-sealing damper.
- Creosote cleaning
- Firebrick & refractory
- Top-sealing dampers
Stoops, steps & walls
Brick front steps that stop rocking
Belmont's hilly streets mean a lot of front steps, stoops and short retaining walls. When treads loosen or the steps pull away from the house, it's usually the base underneath, not the brick, that has failed.
01 · LIFT
Take it down carefully
Loose treads and risers come off, and sound brick or bluestone is cleaned and saved to reuse.
02 · FOOT
Pour a proper base
A footing below frost depth replaces the shallow slab that let the steps sink and tilt.
03 · LAY
Relay with a pitch
Brick and caps go back with a slight forward slope so rain and snowmelt run off instead of sitting.
04 · RAIL
Finish the details
Railing posts reset, joints tooled and retaining walls along the walk repointed to match.
Questions
What Belmont homeowners ask us
Still unsure? Dispatch picks up day and night at (617) 923-7543.
We switched from oil to gas. Why does the chimney need a liner?
Gas appliances run cooler and produce more water vapor. In an old, oversized clay flue that vapor condenses and attacks the tiles and mortar. A liner sized to the new boiler or water heater keeps the exhaust warm enough to draft properly and protects the chimney.
We went all-electric with heat pumps. What should happen to the chimney?
If nothing vents into it anymore, it can be capped off and the crown sealed to keep water out, or taken down below the roofline and the roof patched. If you might keep using a fireplace, we inspect and keep that flue working.
Can you work on a slate roof without damaging it?
Yes. We stay off the slate field by using ladder hooks and roof brackets, remove only the slates around the chimney, and reinstall them over new copper flashing.
Our two-family shares one chimney. Who pays for what?
That's up to the owners, but we make it easy by listing what each flue and appliance needs separately, with one price for shared work like the crown and cap.
Can our old brick steps be repaired instead of replaced?
Often yes. If the bricks are sound, we take the steps apart, pour a proper footing and relay the same brick.
Do you answer calls overnight?
Yes, dispatch answers 24 hours a day for leaks during storms, falling brick and animals in the flue. For smoke or fire indoors, a gas smell or a carbon monoxide alarm, get everyone outside and call 911 first.
What areas do you serve?
All of Belmont, including Belmont Center, Cushing Square, Waverley Square, Payson Park and Belmont Hill, plus Arlington, Arlington Heights, Lexington, Waltham, Watertown, West Cambridge and Somerville.
Where we work
Belmont neighborhoods & next-door towns
From Waverley Square out to Fresh Pond and up Mass Ave into Arlington.
- Belmont Center
- Cushing Square
- Waverley Square
- Payson Park
- Belmont Hill
- Arlington
- Arlington Heights
- Lexington
- Waltham
- Watertown
- West Cambridge
- Somerville
New boiler, leaky slate or loose steps? We pick up.
Belmont Chimney & Masonry has dispatch answering 24 hours a day, every day.
(617) 923-7543 Call Belmont Chimney
Belmont Chimney & Masonry
26 Brighton St building 1
Belmont, MA 02478
(617) 923-7543
Get directions →
Belmont, MA 02478
(617) 923-7543
Get directions →
| Monday | 24 hours dispatch |
| Tuesday | 24 hours dispatch |
| Wednesday | 24 hours dispatch |
| Thursday | 24 hours dispatch |
| Friday | 24 hours dispatch |
| Saturday | 24 hours dispatch |
| Sunday | 24 hours dispatch |