I'm going to guess here, that you had a very warm humid day after a cool night, or few days. In that case I suspect that the moisture you're seeing is the result of condensation and not a leak from outside. It bears watching, though.

Unless, you've had a lot of rain ... in that case, I'm all wet. You might want to read my long saga on Scryn's Stressed Out thread. I hope it's not that complicated!

You house looks v. nice BTW, and that is some chimney!

HTH,

Molly~

Molly

Thanks for the reply. I hope your first thought is correct, though we did in fact have 3 days of rain, and no condensation anywhere else in the house. I did read your post to scryn (in fact we live in the same area). Like Renee, I can't see myself climbing up there (the chimney in fact goes higher than the picture shows). Hopfully we can get someone to look at it- the mason/chminey person we had this past Spring seemed honest and reliable.

- Mike

Mike,

I wasn't sure if you meant you are nearer Renee or me (I live in northern NY not far from the VT border), but either way I think given your upstate NY location, the condensation theory is quite likely. We had that spell of quite cold air and then it warmed up, quickly. I'm not worried about the lack of condensation elsewhere in the house, I have had odd episodes when a single wall or stone surface appeared to be dewy. After having several panic attacks over these odd phenomena, I started to pay attention to whether the windows had been open, or closed and what the weather (temp, humidity, wind) was and had been for several days preceding. And I never had a repeat of this sort of thing on a single surface despite having lived here nearly two decades. If I'm right, then your only worry is keeping that possibility in mind and not allowing books, paper or art to rest on the chimney piece when it could occur, because unlike stone, they could be damaged by free water. Keep in mind, too that we've had unsually wet and mild, weather for most of the year, and particulary this summer. With today's weather though, I suggest a nice, cozy fire to drive it all away.

Of course, if you have a more romantic imagination, perhaps your mantel was leaned upon by a ghost ...

If it turns out to be more than a condensation/ghost problem, I'm sure your local workers will be willing and competent to help. I hope I didn't leave anybody with the idea that all my workers in VA were out to rip me off. On the contrary, each one was suggesting the best solution that they knew about, it's just it was always not quite the right one. Though I did a get a priceless education in all things chimney, so I shouldn't complain.

Good luck with it, anyway. Although your roof is so steep it makes me dizzy, fortunately your chimney is right on the end.

Molly~

Molly

I am beginning to think you are right. The temperature in our house did change with the weather extremes. We have had more rain, and the stone is continuing to dry. There is no water inside the fireplace or in or around the fireplace in the basement (directly under this one). We did find some loose mortar outside around the lowest stones- but if this were the cause, the fireplace surround would have had to act like a sponge and suck the water from the ground right up to the mantle, which I think is improbable!

Perhaps we do have a ghost since our 1 year old has been known to enthuiastically say hi and wave to empty space ;)

BTW- we live in Rochester, NY near scryn.

thanks for always sharing your knowledge.

Mike

I know this was 13 years ago but I have the same problem only when it rains and the surround is exactly the same design! I mean exactly the same! No signs of water anywhere else. Obviously this sandstone is very porous and acts like a sponge. If you get this update could you post as to what you found to be the problem. Thanks