We had a roofer out.
After having to hang trash bags from our ceiling, we were afraid the entire roof had to be replaced. Can you say “$$$$$$!!” Luckily, it seems like the roof only needs a new silver coat & some flashing around the skylight & roof hatch.
The bigger problem is our chimney. While it looks better than our neighbors, the masonry definitely needs to be replaced. The bricks are all loose. I’m surprised the wind hasn’t blown bricks off. It’s super awesome. /sarcasm
To top it all off, we’re getting more rain. YAY spring in New Jersey!!! RAIN!!! Soooooooo…… to keep the rain out of our house, we made our chimney a little hat.
Out of a big blue tarp & some Gorilla tape.
It is raining. Our ceiling is dry. Fingers crossed it keeps on working!
YAY!!!
brickcitylove.com 
Yikes. I’m on the edge of my seat for how this one ends, Carrie. For your sake I wish we were back to pillowcases and headboards.
Seriously, you and I are getting a crash course in homeownership.
Good luck with the leaks!
PS – love your chimney . It’s Klassy.
Your hat is totally Hurricane Roof Style circa 2005. We were hit so many times that season that there weren’t enough materials and/or roofers to go around, so blue tarps were EVERYWHERE…
And yay for no roof replacement!
Kelly
One of the things I appreciate in Contractors is when they come out to your house and tell you the “truth”. That you don’t need a whole new roof, and that the fix is manageable. Great job making a temporary fix of what caused a huge problem.
You might be able to tuckpoint the bricks rather than replacing the masonry entirely. I’m hazarding this guess because I have absolutely no idea how you chimney looks under its stylish new bonnet.
You know, we avoid water seeping into our door that leads to the second floor deck with regular old window plastic, so I hear ya and applaud your temporary solution! Plastic and tape (and tarps) are the best inventions.
This could last a very long time… maybe a brick colored tarp? 🙂
I’m sorry, but those photos made me laugh. The satellite dish coming out of the blue tarp is awesome. Did you have to cut a special hole for it? 😛
It actually looks like you did a pretty thorough job wrapping the entire chimney up. I wouldn’t be surprised if it lasted longer than expected. Good luck getting a permanent fix for it! Homeownership is totally worth all of the work … right?
Nice wrapping job. I’ve got two questions:
1) I assume you have nothing else venting into your chimney (flue) like a hot water heater, furnace (your boiler) etc. If you’re not really sure, be really careful you’re not accumulating carbon monoxide.
2) If indeed there is nothing being vented into the flue, and your fireplaces are all capped, why not take the chimney down and cap off the hole? It would have to be a lot less $$$ than having it taken down and re-bricked
Hi Frank!
1. Everything vents through a different chimney, so we’re good there.
2. That’s definitely something to consider!!
The next two days will be the real test… Good luck (no more stalactites…)