masonry chimney must be torn down & rebuilt, what are my options? help

[Michelle2030]

So the footing for my homes brick chimney is separating (6 inches or more) from my house. The chimney is on the side of my single story house.

Everyone that has come to see it (three masons and an engineer) say the chimney needs to come down and be rebuilt. Two of the masons that looked at it thought that hearth area in my living room was good and could be saved.

- Could I have the chimney replaced with a class A chimney (metal/steal), keep the masonry hearth and insert a wood burning stove?

- Can you attach metal chimney to the side of your house to vent a fireplace. What would that look like? Is there a way to make it look modern?

- How much do you think it will be to rebuild the chimney?

- Do you like the cheaper cement block chimney?

 

[webby3650]

I would contact a local hearth shop and see what ideas they have for you. I would see about tearing the chimney down, leave the Hearth and install hearth mounted stove that uses a new Class a chimney. I would not spend the money to rebuild the entire fireplace and chimney. You are probably looking at 12K to do that. Have you involved your insurance company yet?

 

[Michelle2030]

Thanks for the reply. I did put in a claim and it was denied. I am going to appeal but don't think I will win. I know nothing about building and the house I bought has a ton of problems. When my friend the electrician came in to switch the fuses, he noticed the leaning chimney and it's been down hill from there.

One of the masons said that he could rebuild my 2 flue brick chimney with a one flue cement block chimney at a significant less cost. I am still waiting on his quote. Sicne the furnace is over 60-years old I have a furnace person coming out to give me a quote on a furnace that vents through the wall so I can have that one flue option.

I really like my fireplace.

One more question, do you think I could get someone in here to build a wooden support structure next to the chimney to provide support to the leaning chimney for the winter so I would not have to deal with till spring. Have you heard of this?

I will go to the hearth shop (once I find out where one is) and ask them. My living room is pretty small so I really do not want a wood stove that pokes out into the room. Hopefully, they will have something that will fit in the fire box space.

Thanks so much for the advice!

 

[webby3650]

I don't think any wood structure could support all that stone. There are companies that can dig under it and pump grout in there to bring it back up to level and plumb. It would be expensive, but likely cheaper than rebuilding, not to mention more aesthetically pleasing.

 

[Michelle2030]

Thanks. I was worried about the weight of it too. I just saw someone do the wood route on the internet and figured it might be a cheap, temporary, solution but it really doesn't make sense.

I called one of those jack up companies. They said that they would do it for 5 grand without event coming out to look at in person. They just viewed my house on the assessor's database.

I think my problem is that there isn't a proper footing to begin with, well that is what the engineer and masons thought but they said there is no telling until we dig it up.

One of the masons talked about digging a trench and flooding it with cement as a stop gap measure for the time being for $700, maybe I will go that route for the winter and deal with the chimney in the spring.

I'll post a photo this weekend. It's really a crazy situation and there is a really big gap. I can't believe I didn't notice it. I went on the roof last weekend and the gap was well over 8 inches at the top. Little birdies have nests all in between my house and chimney. Unbelievable.

Thanks again. After I post the photo maybe you can tell me what you think.