Masonry repair
Sweep & inspection
Caps & crowns
Flue relining
Gas fireplace serviceLevel 1 sweep and inspection to the NFPA 211 annual standard - flue, crown, cap, and flashing checked and photographed
Chimney sweep logs do not sweep chimneys. They loosen some creosote - which then falls where a brush and vacuum still have to collect it.
Gelco Crown Repair: The Henderson Owner’s Guide
A Gelco crown repair in Henderson typically runs $450 – $950 installed, and we carry Gelco-compatible crown materials on our trucks so most jobs finish in a single visit. The crown is the concrete or mortar cap that sits on top of the chimney, sealing the gap between the flue liner and the outer brick. You usually find out it failed when you see a water stain on the ceiling near the fireplace, or when a chunk of crown lands in the yard after a windstorm.
Henderson’s summer sun and flash-rain season work against chimney crowns harder than most climates. The concrete expands in 110-degree heat, contracts when a monsoon front rolls through, and after enough cycles the crown cracks, spalls, or separates from the flue. Once water gets into that gap it moves fast: rusted dampers, rotted flashing, and mortar joints that turn to sand. Hank Delano has pulled crowns off Henderson chimneys that looked fine from the ground and were honeycombed underneath. By the time you see the crack, the freeze-thaw and UV damage has usually been working for years.
Which Gelco Models This Applies To
Flint Chimney Co Henderson is an independent chimney service company, not affiliated with Gelco, and we install Gelco crown repair products alongside comparable materials from DuraFlex and HeatShield. Gelco’s crown system is built around a single-piece steel form and a cast-in-place crown mix that bonds to the existing masonry a lot better than a bagged concrete patch from a hardware store. The Gelco form works on standard rectangular and square flue openings, and it’s paired with a flexible crown sealant that moves with the chimney during Henderson’s temperature swings instead of cracking at the seam.
The compatibility question comes down to your flue size and the condition of the brick below the crown. We match the Gelco form to the outside flue dimensions, not the inside. If the top of your flue liner has chipped or spalled, the crown mix needs a good bond surface, and there are cases where a new flue cap or a partial flue repair has to happen before the crown goes on. We carry the common Gelco sizes on the truck and can order the oddball close-fit forms when a flue is a half-inch off the stock dimensions. The written estimate names the exact part and price before anything gets installed, so there’s no open-ended parts discussion at the door.
Styles & brands we work with





Signs Your Gelco Crown Repair Is Failing
- Water stains on the ceiling or wall near the chimney. Water entering at the crown travels down through the masonry and shows up indoors, often far from where it got in.
- Visible cracks wider than a dime in the crown surface. Hairline marks are normal aging. A crack wide enough to catch a fingernail is a water pathway, and Henderson’s afternoon sun accelerates the widening.
- Crown pieces in the gutter or down at the base of the chimney. Spalling means the crown mix has already lost surface material. You’re past prevention and into repair when debris shows up on the ground.
- Damp smell from the fireplace even when it hasn’t rained. A failed crown traps humidity inside the flue system, and the smell is the first thing most homeowners notice before any visible damage inside the firebox.
- White streaks (efflorescence) running down the outer brick. Salt deposits ride out through the masonry when water has saturated the crown and brick below it.
See the difference
Before
After
Before
After
Before
AfterReplacement Cost & What’s Included
The installed Gelco crown repair in Henderson typically lands between $450 and $950 depending on chimney height, crown size, and whether any brick or flue prep work is needed first. A straightforward single-flue crown over a one-story chimney starts near the bottom of that range. A two-story chimney with a damaged flue top and several cracked bricks runs toward the top.
Every crown job from Flint Chimney Co Henderson includes a written price before the work starts, under The Garrison Standard our service is built on. The crew removes and disposes of the old crown material, preps the masonry surface, installs the Gelco form and crown mix, and finishes with a crown sealant appropriate for Henderson’s UV exposure. You get a written guarantee valid for one full year under our 365-Day Done Right Promise. If the repair fails within the guarantee period, we return and redo it at no charge. That’s the only way a crown job leaves our trucks.
DIY or Call Us?
You can safely inspect a crown from the ground with a pair of binoculars. Look for the cracks and spalling described above, and check the flashing where the roof meets the chimney. What you should not do is take a bag of patching compound up a ladder and try to fix it yourself. Crown repair needs the old surface removed to a sound base, and a patch over a hollow, saturated crown just puts a lid on a problem that keeps eating your chimney from the inside.
The climbing is the other reason to call us. Two-story Henderson homes have chimney access angles that put a homeowner on a ladder at exactly the wrong height to work safely. Our technicians do this with the right equipment, and the job comes with a written price and a one-year written guarantee. Call (775) 375-4267 and we’ll match your chimney to the right Gelco repair and tell you exactly what it costs before you commit to anything.
FAQs
A properly installed Gelco crown on a prepped masonry base lasts 15 to 25 years in Henderson’s climate, with the variable being sun exposure and whether water has already damaged the brick below. A crown that gets full west-facing summer sun will weather faster than one on the shaded side of the house. We’ll tell you honestly if your existing crown has life left before recommending replacement. Call (775) 375-4267 and we’ll take a look.
Small, non-structural cracks can sometimes be filled with a flexible crown sealant and hold for a few seasons, but most Henderson chimneys with visible crown damage need full replacement because the damage goes deeper than the surface. The only honest way to know which category you’re in is an inspection, and we price that visit in writing before we schedule the work. Call (775) 375-4267 for a free estimate.
Most Gelco crown repairs in Henderson finish in four to six hours on site, plus additional time if flue prep or brick repair is needed. The job is normally completed in a single visit because we carry the common Gelco forms and crown mix on the truck. Call (775) 375-4267 and we’ll give you a time window that actually holds.
We stock the common Gelco crown forms and sealant on our trucks for standard flue sizes, and we can order specialty or odd-size forms when a Henderson chimney presents a non-standard opening. You’ll never wait on a part without knowing about it first, because the written estimate names the product and the lead time upfront. Call (775) 375-4267 to get the exact part matched to your chimney before any work is scheduled.
Tell me what the flue looks like, and I’ll tell you what it costs – no guessing, no padding.
Written by Hank Delano, Owner, Flint Chimney Co Henderson at Flint Chimney Co Henderson, serving Henderson and nearby areas.