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Storm seasons that find the same weak joint every year?
- Leaks that follow named storms rather than ordinary rain
- Flashing patched more than once, tar over tar
- Damp appearing far from where it must be entering
Why it happens in Virginia: Virginia splits between a Tidewater where salt air and nor'easters set the schedule and an inland where sixty-plus freeze crossings do. The brick tradition runs deep in both, and so does the gap between what coastal and inland chimneys need.
What fixes it, and what it costs
Storm rain arrives sideways and under pressure, and it finds what vertical rain forgives: the lifted flashing edge, the flush crown, the hairline joint. Storm-proofing is ordinary work done properly: step-and-counter flashing cut in, crowns with real overhangs, caps that stay put, checked on the storm calendar. Then the named storms pass and the ceiling stays dry.
- Reseal sound counter-flashing
- $300–$500
- Full step and counter-flashing replacement
- $600–$1,000
