Masonry Repair Question

[jotulburner]

My wife and I bought a new house a few months ago. Just got around to pulling out old wood stove. we are getting ready for an insert and liner. Old wood stove was huge we could not see around it during building inspections. Had both general building and Chimney inspections done 2 different companies. We were confident that most problems were identified. However when wood stove came out I see significant deterioration to firebox. about 6-7 bricks gone can see the rubble fill behind and decent crack where hearth attaches to fire box. Person we bought from cut a $1200 check at closing to local chimney company to do repairs to cap, flashing and about half the cost of a liner. I'm guessing insert and liner will seal off damaged brick and loose mortar but I hate to leave it like that. Anyone know cost to have professional repair to fire brick and replace loose missing mortar.
The guy doing install says I can just leave it as is if we are going with insert and liner but that worries me. he already has $1200 that was cut to him at closing we were just going to have him fix the cap and put in liner and at a latter date buy insert because we don't have the money for insert right now. we obviously wont burn till we get insert. I would wait on it all but need flashing and cap repair before the snow flies and he wants to do liner at same time. I love hearth.com you guys have been a big help in the past and any info from knowledgeable members of this forum would be appreciated.

 

[begreen]

If an insert is going in there I would just leave it as is. Is this an exterior chimney? If so I'm wondering when that crack appeared and if it was caused by chimney settling. Hard to say whether it is new or has been there for years.

 

[Simonkenton]

That firebox is made with regular red brick, it is supposed to be made with special heat resistant bricks. Big mistake by the chimney mason.

 

[BrotherBart]

The crack across the front looks like the hearth settled. Mine did the same thing not a real long time after the house was built.

 

[Woody Stover]

If an insert is going in there I would just leave it as is. Is this an exterior chimney? If so I'm wondering when that crack appeared and if it was caused by chimney settling. Hard to say whether it is new or has been there for years.

Yep, chimney foundation must have shifted in relation to the house foundation.

 

[bholler]

That firebox is made with regular red brick, it is supposed to be made with special heat resistant bricks. Big mistake by the chimney mason.

There are red fire brick also hard to tell from the pics though they do look very similar to the face brick. But it wont matter with an insert.

Yep, chimney foundation must have shifted in relation to the house foundation.

When we see that it is usually because the hearth was not supported correctly or tied into the floor of the fireplace and it settled as long as the insert covers that crack it should not be an issue either

 

[jotulburner]

If an insert is going in there I would just leave it as is. Is this an exterior chimney? If so I'm wondering when that crack appeared and if it was caused by chimney settling. Hard to say whether it is new or has been there for years.

Thx for the response center chimney house is a reproduction Saltbox built around 1979 weve only been here 3 months

 

[jotulburner]

There are red fire brick also hard to tell from the pics though they do look very similar to the face brick. But it wont matter with an insert.




When we see that it is usually because the hearth was not supported correctly or tied into the floor of the fireplace and it settled as long as the insert covers that crack it should not be an issue either

Not sure but think the lip of any insert will come out at least 2 inchs further than that crack. Wondering if I can just clean that up and fill in the crack in floor with mortar before they install insert. Just to be safe to keep ash out of it. When I pulled old wood stove the crack was filled with ash.

 

[bholler]

You can do that but it will probably crack again in my experince but it cant hurt to try it

 

[jotulburner]

You can do that but it will probably crack again in my experince but it cant hurt to try it

thanks I will give it a try

 

[Lockpicker]

That firebox is made with regular red brick, it is supposed to be made with special heat resistant bricks. Big mistake by the chimney mason.

That firebox is made with regular red brick, it is supposed to be made with special heat resistant bricks. Big mistake by the chimney mason.

Unbelievable !

 

[webby3650]

That crack you see in the floor is very normal, same with the bricks that were removed in the back of the firebox. They were removed to get a liner down to the stove at some point. There is no reason to repair it. When you get your new insert, it will most likely need to removed again as well as some of the damper frame possibly. The mason used red brick to look "authentic" but made the fireplace worthless as an open fireplace. If you want to repair the brick, it should be removed and replaced with firebrick.

 

[jotulburner]

That crack you see in the floor is very normal, same with the bricks that were removed in the back of the firebox. They were removed to get a liner down to the stove at some point. There is no reason to repair it. When you get your new insert, it will most likely need to removed again as well as some of the damper frame possibly. The mason used red brick to look "authentic" but made the fireplace worthless as an open fireplace. If you want to repair the brick, it should be removed and replaced with firebrick.

Thanks so much for the info. It is so helpful I want to be very safe while burning but there is so much to know having experts willing to share their expertise is invaluable.