This is something I have not had to consider or make a decision on before.
My brother is in the process of renovating the house my Grandpa built in 1913 (still in family ownership) to use as offices for his business (photography).
The question is general – background for reference – originally there were 2 chimneys (8 in clay flue, 20 in square outside dim, pop took one of them down 20 years ago) and the remaining one now serves a wood stove in the basement (used for coal furnance from 1913 to 1955). Pop had repointed all the visible joints (basement and above the roof and attic) at the same time the 2nd (originally for kitchen stove) had been demolished. Brother knocked some of the plaster off the sections on the first and 2nd floors and all the joints are essentially loose sand.
Question – in your experience, is it going to be less work to strip the plaster and repoint the rest of the chimney or tear it down. The wood stove in the basement is not a factor, it will probably be scrapped (2nd generation stove, not a 1913 antique).
Brother and I think the repoint is less of an overall job, your opinion please, preferrably based on experience . I’ll ask him to take some pix if anyone desires such.
EDIT PS: Naturally, this will be a 100% DIY job by brother and his son given family genetics <G>
Edited 4/26/2005 10:44 pm ET by JUNKHOUND
Replies
I repointed a chimney half as old as that a few years ago. What a mess. Here's what I learned:
Some of the mortar was so bad that the entire stone needed to be re-set. Tough job on irregular stone.
Hand raking works to a point but there is a diamond blade for 4" or 4 and 1/2" angle grinder called a tuck pointer. Really rips through the stuff but will also really rip through you if it binds and kicks out of the joint (my face shield saved me from more than a bruise).
A grout bag is definitely the way to put the new mud in the joint.
The old timer who took pity on me and helped me finish the job explained that old mortars were a lot softer then our modern stuff and that you needed to match the mix. There's been info in FH on this subject, I believe.
You shouldn't mix more than two beers with your mortar if you want it to look nice, if you get my drift.