Hey guys, I was looking for suggestions on removing this brick chimney. We are planning to built a one story additon on to this side of our home and this chimney will need to be removed. I would like to remove the bricks “gently” for possible reuse on the new additon’s skirt. Any suggestions on tools or techniques to accomplish this task? thanks-
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Replies
Put a concrete blade in a cheap circular saw and cut through the horizontal mortar joints. Remove the brick one course at a time.
George Patterson, Patterson Handyman Service
>>Put a concrete blade in a cheap circular saw and cut through the horizontal mortar joints. Remove the brick one course at a time.<<
Start at the top.
I have had good luck with an airchisle. Needed a good size compressor to keep up tho. Removed a lot of brick without damaging them, then clean up the mortar off the bricks with a brick hammer.
Rent a boom lift and use a small demo hammer with a 1" chipping bit. Takes a little work to get started on first course/cap then the bricks will pop right off with bit jammed into horizontal joints. With the lift the job goes very quickly and is safe, and you can put the bricks in the bottom of the basket and move them easily to storage space. Done this numerous times with good results.
Depending on your experience with a boom lift, and especially, if you think you might not get "full"days to work on this, renting some staging might be a bit simpler.
But, that "might" is a tall word in this, too.
My first inclination was to a boom lift, too. But, I've a few thousand hours driving them, too.
Now, that also presumes "we" can get a "trailer" lift in there, between that tree and the house, too.
A TMZ-30 can rent for $200 the day, too.
But, being able to reach "around" the chimney, to the "roof" side makes that so much easier.
Now, what a lift won't do for you is let you work more than one person at a time very much. You also can't cobble a "slide chute" to uniformly slide the bricks down to ground level.
In my experience, chimneys come apart in two ways: too easily, and too difficultly. Yeah, so, pretty obvious, huh? What that means, is needing several tools. Masonry chisel, couple of stout hammers, good bar, small sledge--that'd be the minimum I'd lift up. Attack the joints, but "aim" to just split the joints apart. That way, the adheses mortar can help protect the bricks until they get to ground level. Then, on the ground, at leisure (no rental clocks going), the mortar will clean off most bricks middling readily, if in mind-numbing, repetitive, tedium <g>.
Thanks to all for the ideals in removing this chimney. I have built a few spec houses over the years as a "hobby" but never removed removed a chimney. I think I'll try the the demo hammer approach and just purchase about six stages of scaffolding. I have rented a boom lift before to trim some trees ($350/ weekend), that is a wonderful tool but expensive if you keep it too long. I have seen internet scaffolding prices of about $100 per set delivered for a $600 order. With all the construction in NW Ark, I think I can easily resell the scaffolding after I'm finished with the addition.
Again, thanks for everyone's input. I'm sure I'll be asking more questions before the project is over.
jabram,
I took down a limestone chimney a few years ago. I used a demo hammer and the stones popped loose quite easily once I started.
Me and a helper set up the scaffolding the day before (sloped lot) and then took the chimney down in about 4-6 hours the following day.
The second set of hands really made a difference. Once the stones were loose, he could grab them and get them to the ground or other staging. I didn't have to worry about them falling to the ground. It also made a difference when we got to the clay flue. Those sections can be pretty heavy and with only one mortar joint securing them, I wouldn't want to be holding the demo hammer and trying to keep the flue section from falling.
Good luck.
I think I'll try the the demo hammer
Trust me, take a couple extra hammers, one bigger, and one smaller than expected. And the entire three-pack of Gorilla bars can come in handy, too.
It's not the face brick so much, it's the liner brick or block and flue pipe that wants horsepower to sweat out. I failed to mention, before, that having two piles for removed masonry is a very good deal (salvagable and unsalvageable).
With staging, you can make a plywood chute to a dumpster for the unsalvaged stuff, and another for the good brick.Occupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)
I could have that down in 4-5 hours with a demo hammer using gravity to deposit the bricks in a pile at bottom.IMO. The value of the used brick is not worth the extra time to gently carry them down and clean and stack them.
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Start at the top.
Regards,
Scooter
"I may be drunk, but you're crazy, and I'll be sober tomorrow." WC Fields, "Its a Gift" 1934
Heres' what I've been told to do. At the bottom of the chimney knock out a bigger hole than the little ash door. Now start at the top of the chimney with a cold chisel and hammer. Knock out the bricks one at a time and drop them down the chimney. Have a helper at the bottom pull the bricks out of the bigger hole and remove them.
This shoudl be easy for me as my chimney is over 100yrs old and the mortar is failing anyways. I've heard several quotes around here for my 3 story chimney of around $2000 to have someone do it for us. I've got a friend with 6 stages of scaffolding I can borrow to do the job myself. I just don't want to be the guy on the bottom breathing in the brick-chimney dust all day.
I have to convince the wife that saving the antique brick is not worth it....
Daniel Neuman
Restoring our second Victorian home this time in Alamdea CA. Check out the blog http://www.chezneumansky.blogspot.com/
Oakland CA
Crazy Homeowner-Victorian Restorer
Recycling the old brick is not worth it - for a contractor.
For a homeowner, especially one who has just invested as much as you have in your money pit, I'd definately keep them. My old bricks from my Boulder Creek cabin have made some very nice small patios & walkways, with a character that you can never get with new brick. You certainly have plenty of room out back to stack it :-). And a yard that's going to need lots of TLC.
What's on the agenda for this weekend?
Recycling the old brick is not worth it - for a contractor.
For a homeowner, especially one who has just invested as much as you have in your money pit, I'd definately keep them. My old bricks from my Boulder Creek cabin have made some very nice small patios & walkways, with a character that you can never get with new brick. You certainly have plenty of room out back to stack it :-). And a yard that's going to need lots of TLC.
What's on the agenda for this weekend?
Yea I guess but even for this goofy home owner getting the mortar off of all the brick would just not be worth it. We had a ton of brick at our current place and tapped it into the ground end up as edging and it worked out nicely. I also rebuilt a bit of the walkway with them after we had the foundation redone.
This weekend we are going to finish the demo and clean up all the demo debris and haul out all the rat urine soaked fiberglass insulation!! Then spray the entire place with a de-stanking potion...hopefully I can convince SWMBO to let us take Easter off as I don't think the neighbors are going to appreciate the noise the power washer makes...
Daniel Neuman
Restoring our second Victorian home this time in Alamdea CA. Check out the blog http://www.chezneumansky.blogspot.com/
Oakland CA
Crazy Homeowner-Victorian Restorer
getting the mortar off of all the brick would just not be worth it
Amen:
Many folks here know how cheap I am, but I've not ever even considered cleaning old bricks, I'd use them for fill.
Pop did the drop them down the flue method on a chimney when he was 75, no staging or anything, just stood on the top course and knocked the sides in with a sledge as he went down till the flue was full, then went down via ladder and removed, then back up.
For the house shown I'd tie a wire rope to the top, air hammer a notch about 1/2 way down, and pull the top over with 4x4 or backhoe, just like topping a leaning tree. Bust up the brick by driving the crawler over it a few times or picking up section with a thumb and dropping them on others.
yes yes, jobs that invovle crushing with tracks, and anything with thumbs or buckets, is a LOT more intereting to me than when we start with hammers and chisels...;>DA medium to large guy named Alan, not an ambiguous female....
NOT that there is anything wrong with that.
One of my early jobs in construction was cleaning used brick for a salvage yard. The guy bid on removing old buildings and we would go take them apart piece by piece, stack on site, and he wopuld try to sell what he could right then and there, only transporting what didn't sell immediately.
I learned a lot about how a building goes together that way.
I also learned that it is no fun cleaning used bricks. Especially at two or three cents each.And that was mostly with old lime mortar. The newer chimney in this thread would likely have portland based mortar that would be torture to clean
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
Heres' what I've been told to do.
Were you the helper?
Have not done it yet but I will hopefully not be the helper...
Daniel Neuman
Restoring our second Victorian home this time in Alamdea CA. Check out the blog http://www.chezneumansky.blogspot.com/
Oakland CA
Crazy Homeowner-Victorian Restorer
Sounds like a good way to do it, if you're the guy on top.
We just demmo'd one, and were lucky enough that it just fell away from the house when we pushed it. Recommended if there isn't anything in the way, or anything that can be dammaged when it comes down.
It looks like it is in good shape. Have you considered designing around it? It would add character to the new room. Just a thought.
Bear
Yes, the chimney is in great shape. We built this house in 1992 and I still remember the $2000 I paid the mason to construct the chimney. So I would like to not tear it down but cannot figure how it would fit in with our plans for a larger living room. Our plan is to bump that outside wall out 16' creating a larger living room. This plan would leave the chimney positioned in the middle of the new room. So that's kinda tough to design around. Thanks for the input.
I guess I was picturing a room off the LR, probably a sunroom type thing with lots of glass. An opening on either side of the chimney to access it. Maybe with french doors where the windows are now. But hey, its your house, not mine! Bear