Failed chimney bricks replaced with care in Lithia

How salts inside brick push the face off

Water moving through masonry carries dissolved salts. When that water evaporates at the surface, the salts are left behind as efflorescence. If the water dries out a little way beneath the face instead, the salts form crystals within the brick itself.

The Brick Industry Association explains that salts crystallizing within masonry can develop pressures that may result in spalling. That is one reason spalling tends to follow water entry, and why slowing the water down matters as much as replacing the bricks.

Our team looks for signs of salt movement, such as persistent white deposits, when we assess the damaged area.

A water repellent does not replace a damaged brick

The Brick Industry Association rates a water repellent as rarely effective here and advises against using one as a substitute for cutting out brick whose face has spalled or cracked through. A repellent cannot put back material that is gone.

BIA also advises waiting several months after repairs are finished and inspected before deciding whether a repellent is needed, because the repairs themselves often solve the moisture problem.

We follow that order. Physical repairs come first, and any treatment is a separate, later decision that we will discuss honestly if you ask.

Bricks at the roofline and the flashing joint

Masonry just above the roof takes water running off the shingles and splash from heavy rain, and it sits next to the flashing that seals the chimney to the roof. A failed flashing joint can keep that brick wet for long periods.

When damage clusters at the roofline, we inspect the flashing as well as the bricks. Replacing the bricks without fixing a leaking flashing joint would leave the new units in the same wet conditions.

Flashing repair is explained separately on the estimate, and we coordinate with your roofer if other roof work is planned.

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.