Brick Chimney Repair

[zendriver]

Sorry posted in wrong forum


Red Brick chimney, 65 yo

Some of the upper bricks (not the top row) are chipping away, likely from freezing water getting between them and the mortar.

I'd like to remove and replace the busted ones and redo the mortar on the crappy areas.

Anyone have good info and/or sources for completing this videos, etc.

I don't want it to get worse.

Thanks

 

[The Cobbler]

often that is signs of a cracked or leaking flue or a bad roof cap allowing water to get into the bricks

 

[Hilltopmasonry]

Let’s see some pictures.....

 

[joey1320]

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=CHIMNEY+REPAIR

 

[Kaizen]

Agree a few pics would be helpful. Does it have a liner?

I rebuilt mine a few years ago on a larger issue. Did ok imo. Still straight and standing. I also had no good experience. I went to a stone yard to get bricks and mortar. Figured get the best. If you have a clay liner it’s easy as that’s your mold. Go slow and check with squares and levels.
I still can’t believe mortar sticks it all together. Good exercise to get a feel for the mortar is build a column on a flat surface. A few feet will get you in your game. You can and have to add water to the mortar as you go. Not like concrete.
Wait till warmer days obviously.


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[dogdog]

sometimes it might be better to have it rebuild... for mine it started with one unsightly chimney brick that had loose joints and the next thing I know... all of them started crumble.. probably the last time it was touch was when it was build 1929... but mine is a flat roof. so... takes one pellet of bricks just for a sections of about 5' height on a flat roof. and 2 sections of clay chimney pipes. You local brick mason supply store will have those... they only sell by the pellets for bricks.
There is a formula for that, and it comes very close to the actual number of bricks needed when I used it.


Just hire it out if you have to climb. but do do the math before hand so you have an idea who is stroking you on estimates.

 

[zendriver]

often that is signs of a cracked or leaking flue or a bad roof cap allowing water to get into the bricks

I was wondering if that was a contributing.

It has a cheap crappy looking cap on it. And oil furnace is the only thing utilizing it, but it has a clean out down in the basement that does have water run out of it after a heavy rain. I believe it does have a tile liner because that’s what the cabins attached to Maybe the mortor is bad on the top as well

I plan on replacing the cap.

I’ll get some pics tonight


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[rlitman]

...You local brick mason supply store will have those... they only sell by the pellets for bricks...

I bought two pallets of bricks a few years ago. The local mason yard said that a pallet is 500 bricks, and that they'd sell me whatever number of bricks I wanted, and there is no quantity discount at these sorts of number. When the delivery arrived, it came on one very large pallet. All 1000 bricks.

 

[Al Borland]

Cap should pitch away from the flue to encourage runoff.
If just a couple bricks, you can cut the mortar with a masonry wheel on an angle grinder.
After the brick is out, clean out all the old mortar and put in new brick.
If it's only a couple bricks, they may have had cracks that allow water in.

 

[zendriver]

Here it is faces north


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[danski0224]

There's no cap on the chimney.

Needs to be taken down and rebuilt. It's bad at least as far as the picture shows.

 

[zendriver]

There's no cap on the chimney.

Needs to be taken down and rebuilt. It's bad at least as far as the picture shows.

I googled "chimney cap" and most of the results look exactly like what I have on there.

What is your definition of one?

 

[chipper]

Chase cover?

 

[GirchyGirchy]

Might need a liner if your chimney is the vent for your furnace and other gas appliances.

 

[danski0224]

I googled "chimney cap" and most of the results look exactly like what I have on there.

What is your definition of one?

The traditional poured in place concrete or stone top that deflects the water over the sides. I don't know the trade name for it. It has to overhang the brick sides by at least an inch or so.

The clay liner has a cap, but that is not the source of your problem.

The white stuff is efflorescence. Salts being pushed out of the brick by water. Sure sign of problems.

If you had a standing pilot gas furnace that was replaced with an intermittent ignition model and vented into a masonry chimney without a liner, that does the exact same thing. Takes about 15-20 years, but it destroys the chimney. Cast iron gas boiler with a low water return temperature does it too.

Make sure that the oil furnace is vented properly.

I have seen a few older brick chimneys that had clay tile at the top, but no clay tile in the first 2/3 rds of elevation.

It really should be evaluated by a professional. It is beyond DIY tuckpointing repairs.

 

[captain14]

Mike Haduck has a whole series on Chimney repair and maintenance

I have included his first, then dive into his rabbit hole.

 

[Kaizen]

Agree I would take that down to the flashing and rebuild.
That thing sticking up in the middle is the liner. That liner should be all behind brick. So you are missing a few courses. At the top you hand form mortar over the bricks and liner sloping down like a roof so you don’t get water inside.
I suggest more pics on the lower because it might need more help. No sense building pretty on top of ****.
This work is not hard. Takes focus and some practice. Here is my first attempt at brickwork. I needed a lift so you have it better. Don’t ask about the roof...



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[The Cobbler]

1 problem is there's no cap. as mentioned it overhangs the brick about 1-1/2" and has a drip cut in it to prevent the water from running back to the brick .
I also suspect the liner int he chimney

 

[Hilltopmasonry]

I googled "chimney cap" and most of the results look exactly like what I have on there.

What is your definition of one?

He is referring to the fact that you have no concrete cap on top of the brick to protect the masonry

you need a minimum of 4 inch thick concrete cap with a 2 inch overhang to protect the masonry

I would recommend taking the chimney down to the flashing and rebuild with New brick

 

[danski0224]

Agree I would take that down to the flashing and rebuild.
That thing sticking up in the middle is the liner. That liner should be all behind brick. So you are missing a few courses. At the top you hand form mortar over the bricks and liner sloping down like a roof so you don’t get water inside.
I suggest more pics on the lower because it might need more help. No sense building pretty on top of ****.
This work is not hard. Takes focus and some practice. Here is my first attempt at brickwork. I needed a lift so you have it better. Don’t ask about the roof...



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Your chimney doesn't have a proper cap either.

It is normal to see some of the clay tile sticking out. Somewhere around 6 inches seems common in my area.

Hard to tell from the picture, but the chimney also appears to be lacking a cricket on the high side.

 

[captain14]

The chimney mount antenna should be removed also. When the wind hits that it shakes the brickwork also causing damage

 

[lardy1]

Who knows what the flue liner looks like? I just had a similar experience with another house we own. We were prepared for the worst and got an estimate to put in a stainless liner and pour around it. It was understandably hard for him to bid withought being able to look down it. I ended gambling on renting a lift and bringing in my bricklayer buddy. We got lucky. Only the top flue was broken and he was able to tuck point the mortar joints and save it for now.

If I were you, I'd get a pro to look at it. Not worth saving a few bucks on improper repair then burning the place down or gassing someone.

 

[mobiledynamics]

You guys do your own masonry repair ?

That's one trade I let the pro do, like my tilesetter. It really is an art getting the mortar color dialed in, etc.

 

[Kaizen]

Your chimney doesn't have a proper cap either.

It is normal to see some of the clay tile sticking out. Somewhere around 6 inches seems common in my area.

Hard to tell from the picture, but the chimney also appears to be lacking a cricket on the high side.

Sure it does. Or are you talking metal metal caps that I don’t need?
Also has a cricket. The exposed clay liner is hard to seal where the mortar cap touches it. Not really a need for it as you can get metal caps that pinch inside of chimney.


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[Kaizen]

You guys do your own masonry repair ?

That's one trade I let the pro do, like my tilesetter. It really is an art getting the mortar color dialed in, etc.

I had a large job but still found the quotes of 12-16k ridiculous. I rented a lift and saved myself 9k.
Agree pros will make it look better but just as functional


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[mobiledynamics]

Kaizen.....I hear you on the DIY vs trade approach. The price is the price ya know. Kinda like roofers, and the laundry list goes on..Amazingly out of all the aspects of the trades, my HVAC guy is pretty dang reasonable.

 

[zendriver]

You guys do your own masonry repair ?

That's one trade I let the pro do, like my tilesetter. It really is an art getting the mortar color dialed in, etc.

I'll probably just do it myself.

Always wanted to work with brick and there are other brick/block jobs around the house that need done as well. Plus I have other expensive jobs that I don't care to tackle. My next furnace won't need it so maybe I'll knock it down later.

Good reason to buy more tools