Santa’s Not Going to be Happy

With Christmas just 15 short days away (What!) preparations for the jolly old elf’s visit are in hyper drive. The anticipation is ramping up to the fever pitched crescendo parents endure on Christmas Eve into Christmas day. If there is one thing all little tykes are worried about at this time of year it’s the chimney. This is Santa’s gateway into their home and it better be ready mom and dad!

Well needless to say I was extremely concerned the other day when I received an email from a dad anxious with some recent repairs to his chimney. Seems after some really heavy rain during the night, water was leaking through his fireplace. So much water dad had to put buckets inside the fireplace. How will Santa get around that obstacle? Since he was close by and I had some time I shot right over to investigate.

When I arrived dad was a bit irritated considering he had just paid a “professional” chimney company to repair his chimney. I think he wanted everything right for Santa. The issue was the counter flashing at the chimney. Apparently when he replaced the roof a few years previous, the “professional” roofing company never installed counter flashing. I bet that crew got coal in their stockings that year.

I got out my ladder ascending to the roof to take a look at the work. Well let me tell you Santa would not have these guys working in his toy factory. The quality of their work is very poor. The first thing I noticed was the mess. Mortar splashed all over the shingles. Soppy work practices usually means sloppy work. Looking at the counter flashing it was readily apparent it had been installed incorrectly. A diagonal groove had been cut into the brick, the flashing inserted and then caulked. Best way to describe it, quick and dirty. The installer was also very liberal with the caulk. Check out the cute little pig’s tail he made. Won’t Santa be impressed?