Ever heard of a chimney cricket? If you’re like most Texas homeowners, the answer is no. A cricket is a small structure that’s hidden behind your chimney. It’s something most people never notice until something goes wrong. But that little structure does a big job. It helps your roof shed water and debris around your chimney, rather than allowing it to build up and create damage.
Read on to learn all about chimney crickets, how they work, and whether your chimney needs one.
What is a Chimney Cricket?
A chimney cricket, also known as a chimney saddle, is a small structure that sits on your roof directly uphill of your chimney. It looks like a miniature peaked roof hidden behind your chimney.
The purpose of chimney cricket flashing is to prevent water from pooling against your chimney. When you have a wide chimney, rain, melting snow, and debris like leaves and pine needles tend to pile up directly behind your chimney. This built-up moisture can cause significant damage to your roof.
A cricket solves this issue by redirecting water and debris. Rather than accumulating against your chimney, they’re directed towards either side of your chimney and simply flow off your roof. That keeps the area behind your chimney dry and minimizes the load in your flashing and roofing materials in that spot.
Chimney Widths and Crickets
Not every chimney needs chimney cricket flashing. Generally, a cricket or saddle is recommended whenever a chimney is wider than 30 inches. Narrower than that, and standard flashing will sufficiently manage water flow and debris accumulation. Once a chimney reaches 30 inches or wider, the backside becomes wide enough to cause accumulation.
What a Chimney Cricket Looks Like
A well-built chimney cricket looks like a wood-framed peak with a slope on either side that is as or more sloped than the main roof. A waterproof layer sits directly on top of the wood frame, then chimney cricket flashing sits around the edges. Lastly, roofing material is laid on top of the chimney cricket, whether shingles or another material.
How to Tell if You Need a Chimney Cricket
Unsure if you need a chimney cricket? These signs can help identify if you’re missing a cricket, or whether your existing cricket isn’t working correctly:
- Sagging or a flat spot behind your chimney: This is a sign that standing water or debris was sitting on your roof for an extended period of time.
- Streaks, stains, or moss behind your chimney: These are all caused by moisture accumulation.
- Stains on your ceiling or attic near your chimney: Water that leaks through your roof can cause interior water damage, particularly after a heavy rain.
- Rot or discoloration around your chimney base: Check inside your attic. If you identify any of these issues, you may have trouble with your chimney cricket.
If you’re struggling to identify these issues yourself, have a roofing professional inspect your chimney directly. Even if you have a cricket, it may not be doing its job properly.
What Happens if You Skip a Chimney Cricket
Damage from a missing or insufficient chimney cricket isn’t obvious right away. It’s slow and gradual. Here’s what happens:
- Water and debris accumulate behind your chimney after a storm
- The roofing material in that spot remains wet longer and wears out faster than the rest of your roof.
- Your roof degrades unevenly, creating small gaps in your flashing or shingle seams.
- Water works its way through those gaps and into your roof.
- The roof deck behind your chimney begins to rot.
By the time damage is visible, it’s typically significant. That means a repair is no longer just a matter of adding chimney cricket flashing, but entire sections of your roof may need to be replaced.
When to Repair Your Chimney Cricket
If you suspect your chimney cricket and flashing are missing or insufficient, it’s important to be proactive about the repair, rather than waiting until damage is evident. If you’re already planning a roof replacement, it’s a great time to repair or add a chimney cricket. If not, it may be worth adding one in anyway.
Whenever in doubt, have a roofing professional take a look. They can inspect your chimney and roof and determine whether a repair is needed. Results Roofing inspects chimney flashing and cricket construction as a standard part of every roof evaluation. Allow us to identify whether your cricket is doing its job, or whether your chimney is in need of protection.
