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What is a Chimney Cricket?

What is a Chimney Cricket?

Is the Shape of Your Chimney Putting Your Roof in Danger?

It’s a common occurrence to run across a roof which has a chimney that is too wide across the back. Although it is common, it can be problematic for the longevity of your roof because the width of the chimney prevents water from running off the roof and into your gutters. This pooling of water causes debris to build up and water to pool, which increases the likelihood of future roof leaks. The material that your chimney is made out of will not affect this - both brick and wood sided chimneys need roof crickets if water or debris is getting trapped behind them.

Debris behind a chimney Chimney without cricket

What is a Roof Cricket?

Chimney or roof crickets are imperative in helping prevent excess water from pooling on top of your roof. Roof crickets are structures that are built on the uphill side of your roof. They have two valleys and a small ridge and their sole purpose is to divert standing water and debris.

When a chimney cricket is properly built, it will have ice and water shield behind it. At Pro Roofing NW, we prefer to use synthetic felt on top of the leak barrier.

Chimney cricket installation

It’s not necessary to install a ridge vent on the small ridge of the chimney cricket because it’s not on top of the roof. In some cases, a rolled ridge vent might be a good option as an intake vent if the roof line needs more intake venting. That scenario is very rare, however, because proper venting can almost always be reached with soffit venting or eave venting.

After the structure of the chimney cricket has been built, metal valleys should be used as flashing. Then, the new chimney cricket structure needs to be flashed into the chimney side wall or the siding. Lastly, the roofers will install the shingles and the cricket will divert water.

Chimney cricket

Partial roof cricket

What is the Cost of Chimney Cricket Installation?

A price from $150-$500 is usually appropriate for this type of work to be done. The price can potentially fluctuate based on roofing material, roof accessibility, or difficulty of installation.


If you have any questions about chimney crickets and would like to speak with the Pacific Northwest's premier roofing company,
please call Pro Roofing NW at (888) 599-8591 or contact us online!


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