The salt air from Long Island Sound is particularly destructive to masonry. Salt penetrates bricks and mortar, then crystallizes as moisture evaporates, creating internal pressure that cracks the material from the inside out.
Our freeze-thaw cycles are especially damaging because water gets into small cracks, freezes and expands, then thaws and allows more water to penetrate deeper. After several seasons, minor surface cracks become major structural problems.
The coastal storms we experience drive rain horizontally into chimneys at angles that don’t occur inland. Combined with our high humidity levels, this creates persistent moisture problems that never fully dry out, leading to accelerated deterioration of masonry and metal components.