chimney brick deterioration.wmv

Chattanooga Home Inspector finds chimney bricks deteriorating. PRECISE Home Inspections locates an ongoing problem due to moisture and the chimney.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• flaking chimney bricks
• spalling chimney bricks
• deteriorating chimney bricks

[precisehi]

Neither scenario is any good, especially when it comes to chimneys. I was on a home with only a couple rows of bricks for the chimney. When I looked over the edge on the North side, there was the top of the chimney laying on the ground! Thank goodness no was under it when it blew off due to no mortar between the bricks.

[michaelsomeara]

the bigger problem is that the mortar is HARDER than the brick.

when water gets in as you say... the first thing to fail should be the mortar... not the brick. you see this a lot on re-pointing and homes where the contractor used masonry cement with a high PSI... you want the mortar to be softer than the brick. i've also seen the inverse, where water gets in, the joint fails and the brick is left intact. that is the best result. here you'll continue to get brick that fails.