Unfortunately, the Home Warranty policy that came with the
house does not cover structural problems and so, please learn
from my experience... if
there is a fireplace and/or wood stove in a home you are wanting
to purchase, pay the extra money to have a professional chimney
inspection done! The company that did our building inspection
did not inspect the chimney and told us the flaking of the brick
on the exterior was cosmetic and while it needed to be watched,
was not a problem.
We have had water in our basement, coming in next to the brickwork
around the wood stove, every time it rains. We now wish we had
paid to have the chimney inspected separately because our first
renovation will be the chimney. The source of the water in the
basement is the chimney. If we had had a proper inspection,
we would have known about this problem before we purchased the
house and would have been able to either ask the former owner
to repair it at their cost or lower our bid to cover our expense
to repair it ourselves.
We had both a mason and a chimney sweep company come out and
inspect the outside and inside (respectively) of the chimney.
It turns out that the stone cap of the chimney is cracked and
separated from the brickwork. Also, there is SO much water damage
to the brick veneer (the outside of the chimney) that it will
be less costly to remove it all and start fresh than replace
individual bricks. AND, the lining of the fireplace (in the living
room) chimney is cracked in two places, making it unsafe.
Which means it also needs to be replaced or repaired. (The lining
for the wood stove in the basement is not damaged.)
Our options for repairing the chimney include:
- Exterior: remove the brick veneer entirely (disposed of in
a landfill) and put up a brand new brick veneer OR remove
enough of the brick veneer to get a good surface to adhere
man-made stone as a second layer.
- Interior: remove the lining entirely (disposed of in a landfill)
and rebuild it OR insert a metal tube liner with the
gaps between it and the square existing liner with a special
product that is made specifically for the purpose and that
hardens (like mortar).
NOTE: Adding the man-made stone veneer is not a "quick-fix" nor
is repairing the lining by adding the tube. Either option will
create a chimney that will stand the test of time. Either option
will require the exterior to be sealed (something that was never
done to the current chimney... the mason told us that if they
had sealed it even up to five years after it was built, we would
not be having water damage problems).
I investigated ways to avoid having to send the removed brick
to a landfill and discovered that no one in the Kansas City area
will take it unless the brick can be reused as brick. Since that
is not the case here, I looked for someone to take the brick
and crush it for use as an aggregate; again no luck. I considered
crushing it myself and using it for landscaping until I read
the Materials Data Sheet for brick and discovered that due to
the silica in it the dust is as damaging as asbestos to our lungs.
Another suggestion was to use it as rip-rap in the pond; but,
since we will not ready to work on the pond for who knows how
long, that would mean storing the rubble on-site.
Luckily, the cost to either 1) rebuild the interior and exterior
of the chimney is about the same as 2) adding the man-made
stone exterior and inserting the repair tube liner.
So, the deciding factor for us was to do this in the most environmentally
friendly way possible which is number 2): adding the man-made
stone exterior and repair liner. There will still be some brick
that has to go to a landfill, but it will be a fraction of what
it would have been otherwise.
The mason (George Shull Masonry of Kingsville MO) and his assistant
were out this week and the new exterior of the chimney is beautiful!
They spent 2-1/2 days working on it and so we are all set for the
new liner (which will happen later this month). I was very impressed
with the efficiency and skills of these two men. Not to mention
how they carried all that stone and mortar and such up and down
the scaffold with what appeared to be no trouble at all. They did
a great job cleaning up after themselves also. (Of course, our
youngest Newf was a BIG help when he decided that the plastic on
the back deck needed to be torn into shreds - thereby spreading
the chunks of chiseled stone and mortar all over the deck and yard.
Thank goodness for the shop vac!.) We spread the mortar and small
pieces of stone on the gravel driveway and Mr. Shull's assistant
took the bucket of flaked brick home to use in his landscaping.
So NOTHING went into a landfill! YEAH. We decided to purchase the
excess stone and use it as an accent on the front of the house
-- which will probably happen during Mr. Shull's slow
times and when we've put a bit of money aside for that purpose. |
