Brick Rot

House built in '82. 3 fireplaces, which all group together into one chimney, but apparantly have seperate flues, as there are 3 outputs on top of the chimney stack.

Anywhoo, the exterior brick is rotting away. At the start of each summer, I find small chunks o' brick on my deck, which I suppose were actually fractured off by water/winter freeze, and then the heat and wind of summer(house faces a lake - wind gusts are sometimes quite severe and lasts for hours, and the back of the house has a SW exposure, and gets lots of heat in the summer).

Anyway.... is there something to seal the bricks with, or should I just let it continue to rot and let the insurance cover it when it collapses? I think it will probably last another 10 years, but it seems the spring/summer chunk o brick pile grows larger each year.

Thanks

Reply to
Matt
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I think I can motivate you to find a solution. Read your policy. Most of them do not cover this type of problem. Seepage damage caused over a period of time.

Sounds like the brick used is to porous for your weather conditions. There are clear brick sealers that you might be able to apply (like painting). They are good for a few years before you need to recoat. You should be able to buy it at a masonry supply house. I don't recall the brand name.

If you let too much damage occur the only choice you will have left is to stucco the darn thing.

Colbyt

Reply to
Colbyt

Insurance doesn't cover slow weather damage. A chimney cap which protects the top brick from rain might help if it is not too late. A competent mason can tell you although a roofer will probably do the installation.

Reply to
Art

Insurance does not safeguard against failure to maintain. Point the brick and seal it with masonry grade silicone liquid every 3-5 years. Be carefull, the silicone will eat thru shingles.

-- Troweller^nospam^@canada.com

Reply to
ConcreteFinishing&StuccoGuy

Thanks all.....

I think I'll call a mason....

Matt

Reply to
Matt

Couple of causes:

  1. An unlined chimney, particularly with a gas fireplace and/or furnace, they produce lots of moisture that soaks into the brick then freezes between heating cycles and destroys the bricks -- inside and out.

  1. Bad seal at the top, allowing rain, melted snow etc., to enter between bricks or between the liner and the bricks, result is the same as above.

Probably time for a stainless steel liner and surface rebuild or stucco coating.

Reply to
Eric Tonks

This is Turtle.

The Mortar Forker or brick manson who built the chimney did not use the right ratio of sand to Mortar mix to hold up. Sounds like a little too much sand. This goes back to the Mortar Forker who built it.

TURTLE

Reply to
TURTLE

Bullshit, sand/cement rations do not cause brick to rot or decay. A high ratio is just as bad as low. If the mason was at fault brick and mortar in areas other than the chimney would be failing.

-- Troweller^nospam^@canada.com

Reply to
ConcreteFinishing&StuccoGuy

This is Turtle.

Wait a minute here ! Was he saing the Brick it'self was breaking down ? Now that is a different story here for I have talk to some of the brick installers and they have told me about martor breaking down but never a brick it'self.

Well, Acme Brick Company here in Louisiana has 100 year warranty on the bricks. This might be a start here.

TURTLE

Reply to
TURTLE

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