Repointing bricks on chimney - DIY or not?

[NH_Wood]

Hi everyone,

My chimney has some bricks at the top that support a slate chimney 'cap'. Some need repointing. 1) should I attempt myself? If so, any advice or links for how to do this? Thanks! Cheers!

 

[Cutter]

If you have easy access and are comfortable up there DIY. Just make sure that you can clean out enough old mortar that the new is deep enough to be able to set properly. Thin coats dry too fast to cure and last. More importantly is that you use masonry cement and never Portland cement. Portland is to rigid and will act as a wedge during freeze/thaw cycles and destroy otherwise good masonry.
Brad

 

[Adios Pantalones]

I have some that need attention as well- I'll do them in the spring. On my kiln- I just stacked bricks to hold up a refractory piece that I cast myself- it's snugged against angle iron, but no mortar, and it's held for about 4 yrs... so far... with some serious abuse. My point being- I wonder if the mortar is more trouble than it's worth on some things.

 

[Hogwildz]

First check and make sure the bricks are not loose, and it is only repointing you need.
If the bricks are loose, your going to have to remove them till ya hit tight solid ones.
To just repoint, I would use an agle grinder and remove a good bit of the old mortar.
As the other gentleman stated, if you do not replace enough with new, it will not last long.

 

[NH_Wood]

Thanks for the advice guys - easy pitch to roof, so a nice spot to work from - will give the bricks a real good look in the spring and hopefully give it a go! Cheers!

 

[southbalto]

couple things to consider..........

First, anyone can get proficient in repointing pretty quickly. It's tedious and time consuming but it's a good DIY project assuming you have good access.

If they are older hand made bricks you really should have the mortar tested. Using modern off the shelf mortar with older, softer brick will result in brick deterioration.99d

good luck!