Yesterday I had a contractor come out to give me a bid on fixing my
fireplace and brick chimney. He said he couldn't really tell until I had
the soot cleaned out. He said as far as fixing the chimney, a lot
depends on whether it's "cracked." I asked how you can tell and he asked
me if the chimney feels solid when you try to shake it from the roof, or
if it wobbles. I asked him if he wanted to accompany me up there and see
and he said he'd forgotten to wear his shoes. He had sandals on.

Later, after he left, I was on the roof to check on some other things
and I thought I'd check out the chimney and tried to see if it was solid
or wobbly, like he said. In doing so, I evidently loosened one side of
the top 3 layers of bricks. Maybe he was smart to not be wearing his
shoes! Can I repair these by removing the bricks, cleaning them and
resetting them with some brick mortar? I'm not ready to have the whole
chimney done now because the house needs a foundation job, but if an
earthquake hit now, the bricks would damage my roof and would then be
apt to fall on my car. Thanks for the help.

Dan

"Dan_Musicant" wrote in message
...
Yesterday I had a contractor come out to give me a bid on fixing my
fireplace and brick chimney. He said he couldn't really tell until I had
the soot cleaned out. He said as far as fixing the chimney, a lot
depends on whether it's "cracked." I asked how you can tell and he asked
me if the chimney feels solid when you try to shake it from the roof, or
if it wobbles. I asked him if he wanted to accompany me up there and see
and he said he'd forgotten to wear his shoes. He had sandals on.

Later, after he left, I was on the roof to check on some other things
and I thought I'd check out the chimney and tried to see if it was solid
or wobbly, like he said. In doing so, I evidently loosened one side of
the top 3 layers of bricks. Maybe he was smart to not be wearing his
shoes! Can I repair these by removing the bricks, cleaning them and
resetting them with some brick mortar? I'm not ready to have the whole
chimney done now because the house needs a foundation job, but if an
earthquake hit now, the bricks would damage my roof and would then be
apt to fall on my car. Thanks for the help.

Dan
Premixed dry brick repair mortar can be used for this kind of temporary
repair. Since over time, top courses are likely to suffer weakened or
dissolved mortar joints due to water influx and freeze/thaw cycles, you
might consider fitting a galvanized steel cap once the brick is repointed,
so water will be directed away from the top chimney bricks in the future.