Chimney Sweeping in Kalispell, MT

What a century of freeze-thaw does to a Kalispell stack

Kalispell sits low enough in the valley to cross freezing repeatedly through winter rather than staying hard-frozen. Each crossing works water deeper into whatever crack it has already found. Crowns go first - most pre-war crowns here are a flat parge of mortar poured level with the brick rather than an overhanging cast crown with a drip edge, which channels runoff straight into the stack instead of clearing it.

Once water is inside, it attacks from a direction nobody inspects. Interior mortar joints erode, tile joints separate, and the exterior can look entirely sound while the flue is no longer continuous. That is the specific reason we photograph the crown on every older Kalispell house and why a camera is worth the extra cost on anything pre-war.