Rainier Valley — Open Joints, a Mossy Crown and Flashing Held Together With Tar
Three failures feeding the same problem: joints open to the weather, a crown broken and mossy, and a flashing someone had already patched with tar. All three fixed, cap left alone because it did not need touching.
The Challenge
The mortar joints had opened right across the stack, so the wall was taking water in rather than shedding it. The crown above had cracked and grown moss in the splits, which keeps the damp against the concrete year round. At the base, the galvanised flashing was rust-streaked and had been patched with roofing tar — the repair that buys a season and then fails, because tar hardens, cracks and lets water in behind it.
Our Solution
The joints were ground out and tuckpointed across the stack. The crown was rebuilt with a proper outward slope and a clean drip edge so water is thrown clear of the brick. The tarred flashing was stripped out and replaced with new formed metal, stepped and sealed into the roof course rather than smeared over it.
The Result
Water is turned away at three points instead of getting in at three points. The existing cap was still doing its job and was left in place — nothing was replaced that did not need to be. Quoted 31 July 2026, approved the next day.