# Fill gap between siding and chimney



## Windows on Wash (Aug 30, 2011)

Ugh. 

In this case you will need to pull off that adjacent siding, install some counter flashing, replace the J channel, and trim it out properly


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## Nealtw (Jun 22, 2017)

I agree with the above suggestion.


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## sparkaction (Jul 27, 2017)

Thanks for the comments. Does anyone have an image on what the siding should.look like?


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## Nealtw (Jun 22, 2017)

sparkaction said:


> Thanks for the comments. Does anyone have an image on what the siding should.look like?


I can't find anything that would show how this should look.

The main thing to understand it that siding is not waterproof. The stuff behind it really is the material that if installed correctly, gaps that you see would not be a problem.

This looks like someone has tried to seal this a few times and if you have had a leak then it should be opened up and inspected for repairs.

There are people here that are better with siding to help put it back to together right


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## Colbyt (Jan 27, 2014)

Can you post a wider picture? Other than seeing a really bad siding job we no perspective. It looks like a slab attached to the side of the chimney that the 3 stooges tries put siding on.


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## sparkaction (Jul 27, 2017)

Here are some wider shots of my problem area. I looked at my neighbor's chimney and there is a similar setup.


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## Windows on Wash (Aug 30, 2011)

Not too many good pics out there to be honest.


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## ront02769 (Nov 28, 2008)

Minimalist approach, if that is vinyl, unzip the sheet that is cut to fit over the chimney shelf thing. Grab a roll of like 9" lead flashing, bend to fit against the house wall and over the fireplace shelf deal, nail it in, and put the siding back. Ron


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## Nealtw (Jun 22, 2017)

I brought two videos
One to show what you might find
the other to see that it should have been treated like a roof.


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## sparkaction (Jul 27, 2017)

Here is a top side view of the situation. As others have suggested, I should take off the siding and install some flashing. If I get far enough from the chimney I assume any water that gets behind will hit paper and fall down.


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## Nealtw (Jun 22, 2017)

https://www.homedepot.ca/en/home/p.siding-removal-tool.1000681016.html

With a zip tool you can remove a few pieces of siding and inspect the wall 
I would consider capping it all like the picture Ron posted and do both sides.


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## Colbyt (Jan 27, 2014)

sparkaction said:


> Here are some wider shots of my problem area. I looked at my neighbor's chimney and there is a similar setup.



Honestly, if you have no experience flashing this may not be the place to learn. You do need to know how it should be done. The picture Windows on wash posted is how it should be done. Yours is sloped away from the house and not sloped like his image but the process is the same.


the siding must be removed.
a grove made in the mortar of the chimney to receive the over flashing return
the intersection of the wall and the top of the slab treated as a normal wall roof intersection flashed .
j-channel install for looks only
and the siding re-installed.
I did not take a picture of the flashing detail on a sloped one I just did but I will try to post a picture of the finished product with the siding in place later today.

You need a very experienced flashing person.


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## Colbyt (Jan 27, 2014)

I do have one of the flashing in progress on my project. It is not exactly what you need but it does illustrate that it is what is under the siding that does the job.

The first image shows the overview and the ready for paint. The siding is not installed to MFG specs.

The second image is what you see. Note that the top of the metal is tucked into a groove cut in the chimney and then caulked over. The three inch portion extending out from the wall was back caulked under the metal and the edge caulked again with clear caulk. The caulk where the siding meets the metal on the angle is just caulked for appearance. It would not leak if there was no caulk.

The entire wall was rebuilt from the top plate down from brick to corner all because some cheap a$$ed contractor did not properly flash the anything 60 years ago.

The third image shows the hand made step flashing that really seals the wall. It was back caulked where the metal meets the brick and then that v groove was surface caulked before the siding was installed. Finally the small gap between the brick and siding was caulked for appearance. Those exposed nails in the step flashing were covered with the grace window wrap.


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