"Goedjn" wrote in message
Largely because my masonry chimney is loosing bricks, and
I can't seem to get any professional to do more than
come look at it and say "wow, that's bad"...

I may decide to just rebuild it myself, since the stainless
metal chimneys, while easier, don't appear to actually
be CHEAPER than a masonry chimney, except for the
labor.


I don't know how much of it would be considered DIY, but could you learn to
do brick pointing?
Next would be a liner of some sort that goes down from the top. No that we
know the problem, perhaps others have better solutions.