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.
Famco Crown Repair: The Marietta Owner’s Guide
A Famco crown repair in Marietta typically runs $340 – $720 installed, depending on crown size and damage extent, and most jobs are finished in a single visit. We keep Famco-compatible crown components on the truck, so when we diagnose it, we can usually fix it that day. Most owners find out their crown is failing the hard way: a water stain appears on the ceiling near the chimney, or they spot chunks of cracked mortar on the roof after a hard Georgia thunderstorm.
Which Famco Models This Applies To
Famco builds chimney caps, dampers, and crowns under several series names, and the crown repair parts are not universal across all of them. The Famco top-mounted damper series (often sold as the LC or LD lines) uses a cast-aluminum crown frame that mounts directly to the flue tile. The bolt pattern matters. Measure center-to-center on your mounting holes before ordering anything. A half-inch mistake there means the crown sits cockeyed, water gets in, and you’re back on the roof in a year.
For Marietta homeowners with older Famco caps installed in the 1990s or early 2000s, you’ll often find the crown was bedded in mortar that has since spalled from freeze-thaw cycles. That’s not a Famco defect. That’s Georgia rain, summer heat, and the odd January frost working on any masonry joint. On the OEM-versus-aftermarket question: we carry both, but for Famco crowns specifically, we lean OEM or a quality cast equivalent like Gelco. The aftermarket stamped-aluminum crowns sold at big-box stores are noticeably thinner and warp under a full Georgia summer sun. We’ve pulled plenty of those off Marietta rooftops, bowed like a potato chip.
Alcott Chimney Marietta is an independent service provider. We install and service Famco components, but we’re not a Famco company and don’t speak for them.
Styles & brands we work with





Signs Your Famco Crown Repair Is Failing
- Water staining on the ceiling or attic near the chimney. The crown is your chimney’s rain hat. When its mortar bed cracks, water follows the flue tile down. What shows up indoors is almost always the second symptom, not the first.
- Cracked or missing mortar around the crown base. Hairline cracks widen fast once water gets in and freezes. On Marietta homes, the south-facing side of the crown usually fails first because it takes the most direct sun.
- Rust stains running down the flue tile or brick. The Famco aluminum crown frame can corrode at the bolt points when the bedding mortar holds moisture. Rust streaks tell you the seal is gone at the anchor points.
- You can wiggle the cap or crown with a gloved hand. A properly bedded crown doesn’t move. If it shifts when you press on it, the mortar bond has broken all the way through, and wind will finish the job.
- Draft problems that can’t be explained by a blocked flue. A loose crown lets air leak across the top of the flue, which disrupts the draw. If you’re getting smoke spillover on windy days and the flue is clean, start looking up top.
See the difference
Before
After
Before
After
Before
AfterReplacement Cost & What’s Included
Here’s the pricing picture in Marietta right now. A typical Famco crown repair – removing the old crown, cleaning the flue tile, installing the new crown with fresh mortar or adhesive, and tooling the joint – lands between $340 and $520. If the flue tile itself is cracked and needs a concrete crown pour, you’re looking at $550 to $720. The big variable on Marietta homes is roof access. Steeper pitches, two-story chimneys, and anything near Kennesaw Avenue where roof access is tight all push labor time up.
- Crown replacement with standard Famco-compatible part: $340 – $520
- Full concrete crown pour (cracked flue tile): $550 – $720
- Parts-only crown if you want to DIY (we’ll sell it to you straight): $85 – $140, but see below
Every quote is written before work starts. Every crown repair carries our 365-Day Done Right Promise: if the crown fails within a year, the second visit is free. No fine print about “normal wear.” A crown should not fail in a year. If it does, that’s on us.
DIY or Call Us?
Here’s the honest split. You can safely check whether your crown is loose by looking at it from the roof edge or with binoculars from the yard. You can also look for cracked mortar and rust streaks. What you shouldn’t do is get on a two-story Marietta roof with a bucket of mortar and a caulk gun unless you already work at height for a living. The dangerous part isn’t the crown, it’s the ladder, the pitch, and the Georgia sun baking the shingles until they’re slick as glass. If you want the part and you’re comfortable on the roof, we’ll sell it to you with the right specs and tell you exactly what mortar to use. But most Marietta homeowners would rather have it done right the first time and know a name and photo of the technician before they open the door. If the crown is already off-seal, call us at (229) 350-8952 and we’ll quote it over the phone before anyone climbs a ladder.
FAQs
A properly installed Famco-compatible crown on a Marietta chimney should last 10 to 15 years before the mortar bed needs tooling. Georgia’s humidity and freeze-thaw cycles shorten that compared to drier climates, so a crown that’s 12 years old here has done its job. Call (229) 350-8952 and we’ll tell you whether yours is still solid or on borrowed time.
Yes, if the metal is sound and only the mortar bed has cracked. We remove the old crown, clean the surface, rebed it, and tool the joint. If the aluminum has corroded through or warped, repair is throwing good money after bad. Replacement is the honest call there.
Most standard Famco crown repairs take 60 to 90 minutes once we’re on the roof. Full concrete crown pours need cure time, so expect a two-visit job: pour one day, tool and finish the next. We tell you which one you need before work starts.
We keep Famco-compatible crowns, mounting hardware, and the right mortar on the truck for the most common flue sizes in Marietta homes: 8×8, 8×12, and 12×12. Oddball sizes or specialty series may need a two-day order. We also stock parts for DuraFlex, HeatShield, and Gelco systems if you’re running a mixed chimney setup.
Water keeps getting in. Then it’s cracked flue tiles, rotted framing, mold in the attic, and eventually a masonry rebuild that runs five to ten times the cost of a crown repair. The crown is the cheapest insurance the chimney has.
Tell me what you’re seeing and we’ll tell you exactly what it means – no guesswork, no upsell.
Written by Ruben Castellano, Owner, Alcott Chimney Marietta at Alcott Chimney Marietta, serving Marietta and nearby areas.