Flashing & Leak Repair in Burlington

New roof, old flashing. It is the most common way a chimney starts leaking

5.0 · 53 Burlington reviews

CSIA & NFPA certified

1-year workmanship warranty

Written quote before any work

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Pricing, before you commit

Four possible sources. One visit settles it.

Flashing, crown, joints, or cap — four repairs at four prices, and no photograph will tell you which. The $49 visit identifies it and the fee comes off the fix.

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flashing-leak-repair

$595 – $3,495

Inspection (credited)

−$49

Typical job

$595 – $2,000

Final price quoted in writing before any work.

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The craft, done properly
CHIMNEY FLASHING & LEAK REPAIR IN BURLINGTON, MA

Flashing repair runs $595 to $3,495. Re-caulking flashing that is still structurally sound sits at the bottom; replacing step, counter, and saddle flashing across a large chimney sits at the top. Where the roof cannot be worked safely from a ladder, the $1,249 access add-on applies on top.

There is a pattern behind a lot of these calls, and it has nothing to do with the chimney. When a roof gets replaced, the flashing around the chimney is the piece most likely to be reused rather than renewed — it is fiddly, it is buried under the shingles, and it looks serviceable from three feet away. A new roof over old flashing leaks in exactly the same place the old roof did, which is why so many leaks appear shortly after a roof job rather than before one.

Brown Chimney uses aluminum or lead-coated copper and nothing else. No plastic and no rubber, on any job, because those fail at the first hard freeze. Step flashing runs up the sides course by course, counter flashing tucks into the masonry above it, and chimney-rated elastomeric caulk seals the line. The full method sits on our flashing repair service page.

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The Work

The stain is almost never underneath the hole.

Water enters at the roofline, travels along framing or down the back of the masonry, and shows itself somewhere else entirely — often a floor below and several feet sideways. Anyone quoting a chimney leak without getting onto the roof is choosing between four possibilities and hoping.

The timing is the most useful clue you can give us. A stain that appears in every rainfall points upward, toward the crown or the cap, because vertical water lands on top. A stain that only appears when the rain is being driven sideways points at vertical seams instead — the flashing line, the weather face, the joint where the chimney passes the roof. Once the source is confirmed, crown work or masonry repair is priced separately if it turns out to be part of the answer.

Roofline work runs from both Massachusetts offices — Wellesley and here — across the wider service area. Everything local is on the Burlington page.

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When to book

Signs Burlington chimney flashing has failed.

Flashing gives itself away indoors long before anyone notices anything wrong outdoors. Two of these are only visible from the attic.

01

Water stains on a ceiling or wall near the chimney

02

Damp or discolored plaster in the attic around the chimney

03

Rust streaks on the metal at the roofline

04

Caulk that has cracked, shrunk, or pulled away from the masonry

05

Flashing that is loose, lifted, or visibly bent

06

Leaking that happens only during heavy or wind-driven rain

If any of this started within a year or two of new shingles going on, say so when you call. It narrows the search immediately, and it changes what we expect to find up there.

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The stain on your ceiling is almost never under the hole. Anyone who quotes a leak repair from the driveway is selling you sealant, not a solution.

Company Owner
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The Brown Chimney Standard · Burlington

Your Burlington crew, based on Burlington Woods.

Off Route 128, where the town starts
Our office is in Burlington Woods, minutes from the highway that built this town. Town Center, Mill Pond, and Fox Hill are all a short drive from the door — nobody is dispatching a truck from Boston to reach you.
5.0 from 53 Burlington reviews
Rated by the people who live here, from Beacon Village and Pine Glen across to Francis Wyman and the streets off Cambridge.
A town that arrived in one generation
Route 128 was finished in 1954. Burlington had 3,250 residents in 1950 and 19,473 by 1965. Most of the chimneys we work on went up inside that window, and they age as a group rather than one at a time.
Written, photo-backed report
Every job ends with a PDF. Great for insurance, great for selling the home, great for peace of mind.
Interactive · leak path tracer

Where is the water actually getting in?

The stain on your ceiling is rarely under the hole. Water enters at the flashing, crown, cap, or a failed mortar joint, then runs along the roof deck or down the outside of the flue and surfaces wherever gravity lets it. Tell us what you're seeing and when — we'll trace the likely entry point and show what the repair involves.

ATTIC / CEILING BELOW
Traced entry point & the path water travels
Where the damage finally shows up inside
Entry: Step / counter-flashingSurfaces at: Ceiling near or beside the chimney
Most likely source

Chimney flashing

Flashing is the metal seal where the chimney passes through the roof, and it is the single most leak-prone spot on most houses. Water gets under a lifted or caulk-patched seam, runs along the roof deck, and surfaces on the ceiling — often well away from the chimney itself.

  • Chimney flashingMost likely

    Failed flashing removed down to sound roof deck, new step and counter-flashing set in aluminum or lead-coated copper, sealed with chimney-rated elastomeric caulk.

  • Missing cricket (upslope side)Also possible

    A cricket built behind the chimney so water is diverted around it, with new flashing woven into the shingle courses on both sides.

  • Chimney crownAlso possible

    Crown sealed or rebuilt with a one-inch minimum drip edge so water is thrown clear of the brick instead of running down it.

  • Diagnostic visit — entry point traced and photographed$49
  • Inspection fee credited toward the repair−$49
  • Flashing repair or replacement$595 – $3,495
  • Likely repair on this answer set$595 – $3,495
  • Workmanship warranty1 year
Ranking is a guide, not a diagnosis — the entry point is confirmed on site and put in writing. Brown Chimney · 1-888-666-0002
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What to expect

What happens during a Burlington leak call.

The visit begins by finding the source rather than pricing a guess. Roof, crown, cap, joints, and the flashing line are checked and photographed in turn, and only then does a number appear. Most flashing jobs are a single day on site. Access is straightforward on most local rooflines, and where it genuinely is not, the reason gets photographed before the higher rate is quoted.

01

Leak source diagnosis

Water stains rarely start where they show. We trace the actual entry point — flashing, crown, cap, or masonry — before quoting anything, because sealing the wrong spot solves nothing.

02

Written quote before the roof is opened

You approve the exact price before anything is lifted. Chimneys wider than 30 inches at the roofline need a cricket by code — if yours does, that's identified and priced up front.

03

Old flashing removal

Failed flashing and hardened sealant come off down to sound roof deck. Any pre-existing shingle damage is documented and quoted separately rather than quietly absorbed.

04

New flashing installation

Step, counter, and saddle flashing set in aluminum or lead-coated copper — never plastic, never rubber — and sealed with chimney-rated elastomeric caulk.

05

Roof restored, photos taken

The roof area around the chimney base is restored, the work photographed before and after for your report, and covered by the 1-year workmanship warranty.

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For transparency

What flashing repair does not cover.

Roof condition away from the chimney. Worn shingles or a soft deck are photographed and documented, but repairs beyond the chimney penetration are a separate scope and a separate trade discussion.

Crickets. A chimney wider than 30 inches at the roofline is meant to have a saddle behind it diverting water around the stack. That is its own build — framing, membrane, and shingles to match — and its own line.

Interior damage already done. We stop the water. Plaster, ceilings, and paint inside the house belong to someone else.

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FAQs

Common questions about chimney leaks in Burlington

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Our roof was replaced two years ago and now the chimney leaks. Are those connected?

Frequently, yes. Flashing is the part of a roof job most likely to be reused rather than replaced, and old flashing under new shingles leaks exactly where it always did. It is worth checking before assuming the masonry has suddenly failed.
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Can the flashing be re-caulked rather than replaced?

If the metal itself is sound and only the sealant has gone, yes — that is the bottom of the range. Once the flashing is lifted, bent, or corroded, re-caulking buys a season at best. The technician photographs what is actually up there so the choice is yours rather than ours.
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What metal do you use?

Aluminum or lead-coated copper. Never plastic and never rubber. Those turn up on quick repairs because they are fast to fit, and they fail at the first hard freeze.
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It only leaks in a storm, never in ordinary rain. What does that mean?

That the water is arriving sideways rather than straight down, which rules out a good deal immediately. Wind-driven rain finds vertical seams that vertical rain never touches — the flashing line and the weather face of the masonry are the first places to look.
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How do you find the leak without opening anything?

By elimination on the roof, with photographs at each stage. Crown, cap, flashing, and the joints on every face are checked in turn. The stain inside tells you very little about location, because water travels along framing before it appears — so the search happens where it gets in, not where it shows.
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A safer hearth — for 2026

Found first. Quoted second.

Every Brown Chimney leak call starts on the roof with photographs, not with a price. Repairs are quoted in writing and carry a 1-year workmanship warranty on structural labor. Call 781-547-7784.