Our Work

Cutting out and resetting chimney bricks in Sanlando Springs

Taking out a failed brick without harming its neighbors

The Brick Industry Association describes breaking the damaged unit so it comes out more easily, then cutting and chiseling out the mortar around it without harming the neighboring brickwork. The goal is a clean opening with sound bricks on every side.

Our crew works by hand around the opening and checks the bricks next to it as they are exposed. If a neighbor turns out to be cracked or loose, we stop and show you before adding it to the job. Nothing is added to the count without your approval.

Tooling the joints to match the original

The shape of a mortar joint affects both appearance and how water runs off the wall. The same brick industry guidance advises tooling the new joints when the mortar is thumbprint hard, so they match the original profile.

We look at the existing joints first, whether they are concave, flush or another shape, and tool the new ones to the same profile. A mismatched joint catches the eye long before a slightly different brick does. Our specialists match the tool to the joint width as well as the shape, so the new lines sit at the same depth as the old ones.

Keeping the bond pattern

Chimney brick is laid in a pattern, most often a running bond with each brick centered over the joint below, sometimes with header courses or decorative details at the top. Replacement bricks go back into that same pattern, cut where the original was cut.

A repair that ignores the pattern stands out, and it can weaken the way the courses lock together. In Sanlando Springs, the new units follow the original layout so the repaired face reads as part of the whole. Our specialists point out any cut or special brick in the pattern before work starts, so it is replaced in kind.

Loose pieces over walkways and roofs

Spalled faces and loose bricks near the top of a chimney can drop onto the roof, into gutters or onto a walkway below. A falling fragment from roof height can damage shingles or hurt someone.

Keep people away from the area below the chimney until it has been checked, and do not try to pull loose pieces free yourself. Our crew removes unstable material first when we arrive at your Sanlando Springs home, then carries on with the planned replacement. If the chimney sits over a doorway or a driveway, tell us when you book so our specialists can make that area safe first.