Flashing & Leak Repair in Wellesley
A stain that only appears in a nor’easter is telling you where the water gets in
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4.9 · 75 Wellesley reviews
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CSIA & NFPA certified
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$49 fee credits toward repairs
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Same-day PDF report
Pricing, before you commit
A leak has more than one possible source.
Flashing, crown, joints, or cap — four different repairs at four different prices. Nobody can name yours from a photograph. The $49 visit finds it and the fee credits toward the fix.
Estimate preview
Live
flashing-leak-repair
$595 – $3,495
Inspection (credited)
−$49
Typical job
$595 – $2,000
Final price quoted in writing before any work.
The craft, done properly
CHIMNEY FLASHING & LEAK REPAIR IN WELLESLEY, MA
Flashing repair in Wellesley runs $595 to $3,495. A simple re-caulk of sound flashing sits at the bottom; full replacement of step, counter, and saddle flashing on a large chimney sits at the top. Where a lift is needed rather than a ladder, the $1,249 access add-on applies on top and the total can pass $4,500.
Flashing is the metal that seals the joint where the chimney comes through the roof. Brown Chimney uses aluminum or lead-coated copper, and nothing else — no plastic, no rubber. Step flashing goes up the sides course by course, counter flashing tucks into the masonry above it, and chimney-rated elastomeric caulk seals the line. Roof area around the base is restored when the work is done.
Wellesley gives this service a particular character. Pre-war Colonials here are tall and steeply pitched, which makes the roofline harder to reach and the flashing longer than on a modest house. And a storm that arrives sideways off the coast tests the flashing in a way that ordinary rain never does. Method and materials in full on our flashing repair service page.
Step and counter flashing replaced at the roofline
The Work
The stain is almost never under the hole.
Water enters at the roofline, travels along a rafter or the back of the masonry, and appears somewhere else entirely — often a floor below and several feet across. Anyone who quotes a chimney leak without going up on the roof is guessing at which of four things is wrong.
The pattern is the diagnostic. A stain that appears in every rain points at the crown or the cap, because vertical water lands on top. A stain that only appears in a nor’easter points at flashing or the weather face, because wind-driven rain arrives sideways and finds vertical seams. Once the source is confirmed, the repair is quoted in writing and crown work or joint repair is priced separately if it is also part of the answer.
Roofline work runs from both Massachusetts offices — Burlington and here — across the wider service area. The full local list is on the Wellesley services page.
When to book
Signs Wellesley chimney flashing has failed.
Flashing gives itself away indoors long before it looks wrong from the ground. On a steep pre-war roof, most of these are only visible once someone is up there.
The last one is the most useful thing you can tell us on the phone. If the ceiling only stains during a storm and stays dry in ordinary rain, the water is arriving sideways — and that narrows the search to the flashing and the weather face before anyone sets foot on a ladder.
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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
The Brown Chimney Standard · Wellesley
Your Wellesley crew, based on Grove Street.
Grove Street, not Boston
Our office sits on Grove St, a few minutes from Wellesley Square. The Square, the Hills, and the Farms are each a short drive from the door — nobody is routing a truck out from the city to reach you.
4.9 from 75 Wellesley reviews
Rated across the town's villages — Wellesley Square, Wellesley Hills, the Farms, and out toward Cliff Estates and Babson Park.
One street, two centuries
A third of Wellesley predates 1939, and much of what looks new was built on a torn-down lot. A hundred-year-old flue and a factory-built firebox can sit two doors apart. Both are ordinary work here.
Written, photo-backed report
Every job ends with a PDF. Great for insurance, great for selling the home, great for peace of mind.
What to expect
What happens during a Wellesley leak call.
The visit starts with finding the source rather than pricing a guess. Roof, crown, cap, joints, and the flashing line are all checked and photographed, and only then is the repair quoted. Most flashing jobs are a single day on site. On the tall Colonials around the Hills, safe access sometimes needs a lift instead of a ladder — that is a $1,249 add-on and it is documented with photographs before it appears on a quote.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
For transparency
What flashing repair does not cover.
Pre-existing roof damage. Worn shingles or a soft deck around the chimney get photographed and documented, but roofing repair beyond the chimney penetration is scoped and priced separately.
Crickets. A chimney wider than 30 inches at the roofline needs a saddle behind it to divert water. That is its own build — framing, membrane, and shingles to match — and its own line on the estimate.
Interior finishes. Where a leak has already marked plaster or ceilings inside the house, we stop the water; the plaster and paint are a separate trade.
FAQs
Common questions about chimney leaks in Wellesley
The ceiling only stains after a big storm. Is it definitely the chimney?
Not definitely, but the timing points that way. Wind-driven rain finds vertical seams that ordinary rain never touches — the flashing line, the joints on the weather side, and the gap where the chimney meets the roof. A leak that appears in every rainfall behaves differently and usually points at the crown or the cap instead.
Can you patch the flashing instead of replacing it?
If the metal is sound and only the caulk has failed, yes — that is the bottom of the range at $595. Once the flashing itself is lifted, bent, or corroded, re-caulking it buys a season at most. The technician photographs what is up there so you can see which situation you have before deciding.
What metal do you use?
Aluminum or lead-coated copper. No plastic and no rubber, on any job. Those materials appear on cheap repairs because they are quick to fit, and they fail at the first hard freeze.
Our chimney is wide and the roof is steep. Does that change anything?
It can. Anything wider than 30 inches at the roofline is meant to have a cricket behind it — a small saddle roof that pushes water around the stack instead of letting it pool against the back. A lot of the older wide chimneys in Wellesley were built without one, and the back joints are usually the first thing to fail as a result.
How do you know where the leak is before opening anything up?
By elimination, on the roof, with photographs. Crown, cap, flashing, and the joints on each face are checked in turn. The stain inside tells you almost nothing about location — water travels along framing before it shows itself — so the search happens where the water enters, not where it appears.
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Quoted in writing. Then the work.
Every Brown Chimney job in Wellesley is measured on site, priced in writing, and started only after you approve it. Structural labor carries a 1-year workmanship warranty. Call 781-547-7784 or book online.