Spalling brick repair for chimneys in East Tampa

Removing a failed brick without damaging its neighbors

The bricks around a damaged unit are worth keeping, so removal has to protect them. The Brick Industry Association describes breaking the damaged brick to make removal easier, then carefully cutting and chiseling out the surrounding mortar without harming the adjacent units.

Forcing a whole brick out, or cutting carelessly, can crack the bricks next to it and turn one replacement into several. We work slowly at the edges of each opening for that reason.

If a neighboring brick turns out to be loose or cracked once the damaged one is out, we show you before adding it to the repair.

Repointing the joints around replaced bricks

When the joints around a replaced brick have also worn, they are repointed rather than patched. The National Park Service recommends raking out deteriorated mortar to a depth of two to two and a half times the width of the joint.

The Brick Industry Association recommends placing repointing mortar in thin layers and tooling each when it is thumbprint hard, so the joint is packed full.

Joint work is priced separately from brick replacement on the estimate, because some chimneys need one without the other.

Repointing the joints that have failed, and matching the ones that have not, keeps the repair in proportion to the damage.

Questions worth asking before approving brick work

A clear brick repair estimate answers practical questions. How many bricks, or what area, will be replaced? What brick and mortar are proposed, and how close will the match look? What caused the damage, and is that cause part of the repair?

It should also say how loose material and debris will be handled and what protection will be in place below the chimney. Our estimates answer these in writing before you approve anything.

What your brick repair estimate shows

The written estimate lists the bricks or the area to be replaced, the replacement brick and mortar, any joint work around the repair and the protection and cleanup involved. Related work, such as crown or flashing repair, appears on its own lines.

Separating the items lets you see what each part costs and decide on each one. Nothing is added after the fact without an explanation and your approval.