A question for any masons

[tpdimock]

Greetings. I have a need for my stone chimney to be re-pointed.
The top 4 - 5 layers of stone have lost portions of the grout between the stones here and there. Don't know if it's COVID related or not, but trying to find a mason who is available to do the work, or even willing to give me a quote is difficult - the schedules seem to be backed for months. In spite of that, I found a young mason -recommended- who just moved back to my area and is willing to do the job for $600. According to him, it's something he can do in a few hours.
My two questions are:
1. Does this sounds like a reasonable estimate? I don't mind paying someone, but don't have a sense for the going rate.
2. Is this a job I could do myself? I'm a pretty handy guy, but respect the idea that may be best left to a professional.
Appreciate your insights and experience.

Tom

 

[Moosefire]

Used to work for a Mason a few years ago... if I had to guess I'd say its way overpriced. I've done random jobs here and there for friends or family and that price just for tuck pointing seems outrageous. The only exception id say is if its a monster house, hard to access and needs scaffolding to be built 3 or 4 stories in the air.

The job itself isn't that hard at all, nor is it expensive. I'd say go get a tuck pointer from your local store along with a bag of mortar and give it a go yourself if you're able

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[Hilltopmasonry]

Do you have a picture?


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[kbs2244]

"stone chimney" can cover a lot ground
from river boulders to dressed fieldstone
$600 may be high or low, depending
as said, we need PICs of both the chimney and its placement

 

[tpdimock]

Photos attached

 

[Hilltopmasonry]

That chimney needs quite of bit of work and i would recommend a full grind and tuck point, PLUS form and pour a new concrete cap

If it is easy to scaffold then my price would be at least $1500


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[KnurledNut]

A. That job is a bargain at $600, if addressing all the issues.
B. I wouldnt recommend attempting it yourself.

 

[NUTTSGT]

Looks like a two story chimney ?

 

[Hilltopmasonry]

Also your flashing is in desperate need of replacing and upgrading

I can guarantee you are getting water in there


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[Hilltopmasonry]

A. That job is a bargain at $600, if addressing all the issues.
B. I wouldnt recommend attempting it yourself.

I agree and i would question if it is enough to properly do the job

Of coarse that is also location specific


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[Jayman17]

A. That job is a bargain at $600, if addressing all the issues.
B. I wouldnt recommend attempting it yourself.

I would call that a bargain. I would put tuck pointing into the same category as mudding and taping drywall as far as enjoyment doing the job. Then throw in heights on top of a tedious job = YMMV

Jay

 

[Jackfre]

Let’s look a bit further. What kind of appliance are you venting with this outside chimney?

 

[nadogail]

Thanks for sharing.

 

[egdede]

Is that just a stone veneer?

 

[Joemctag]

At this point, a concrete cap like Hilltop says will save your chimney for a lot more years. Just filling in missing mortar, it’ll eventually get where the top stones will need to be removed and re-set and then a concrete cap. If he’ll be done in a few hours, he’s going to use a ladder and re-mortar where mortar’s missing, not going to be cutting out any old , bad mortar. He may do a very good job of that. However, that’s too much money, and it’s not keeping out a lot of the water. You’re in upstate NY, right? It’ll cost more to fix the longer you wait. Not sure whether to recommend you try some re-pointing yourself. There are probably a lot of you-tubes on chimney repairs. I don’t think you want to re-point stones that are now loose and need to be re-set. Maybe Hilltop has some more to say, without actually seeing your chimney. Good luck!

 

[Kaizen]

Agree with hilltop. Would dismantle till it got solid. Doubt the kid has insurance. Lots of hacks out doing chimneys around me.
I rebuilt my brick chimney myself from attic up. About ten feet. Came out well for my first one. Using the mortar was a challenge. You can add water to it as you go so not like thinset or concrete.
Your chimney looks like it has some deep raked joints and others are shallow. Watch some vids and see if you want to try it. If you do dismantle stones you probably won’t fit it back the same way. Also curious if these are a veneer as you might have flue issues as well.


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[tpdimock]

Thanks for the responses. Like many home maintenance situations, this looks to be more involved than I originally expected. The cap will need work as well. Just painted my house and paid for a bunch of other items. It's been an expensive summer.

 

[captain14]

Mike Haduck on youtube has several videos on chimney repairs. He is locates in NE Pennsylvania. He always talks about how the winters destroy brick work over the winters.

Watch several of them to get the idea.

 

[yeldogt]

Old stone work ... is like finding an old car in a barn. Do you clean it up and get it running or do a do a frame off restoration?

You have a couple of issues going on. First -- it's a little weak in the construction department -- both how the flashing was cut in and the top cap. But -- it's also been fixed before ..so it's hard to tell what's really going on.

IMO -- you want to ask the mason how and what he intends to do. If it was me.

1. clean out any loose mortar .. trying to get any of the patched mortar out as well.

2. Really give those cap stones a look -- the top material all needs to be removed. The stones may or may not be loose and it's hard to tell if they are set level. Reset if needed

3. Repoint with proper mortar .... I usually use a lime mortar as it's sticky with more flex ... no cement for me. Your guy may feel differently.

4. Replace the mortar cap.

You want to clean it up and stabilize .. not rebuild. Unfortunate -- the time to inspect and fix the flashing was with the roof replacement .... My guess is with the roof slope and overhang any leak is localized. That's a common spot for roof deck rot as roofers never fix those spots correctly.

Also -- if you have gas heat and not liner -- you need a liner

Make sure they tarp around the roof -- mortar will stain