It seems that some of the mortar between the bricks at the top of my chimney has come out. I'd like to fix it before any of the bricks fall. Is it as simple as climbing a ladder and jamming fresh mortar in between the joints or do I have to dismantle the chimney and rebuild it?

To be clear, the chimney is unused, it vents neither smoke nor NG fumes and there is no longer anything connected to it from inside the house. I'm wondering if I can just dismantle it to a lower height and cap it off instead of fixing it at its current height.

Yeah you can re-do the mortar in the joints, it’s called pointing.

And you can remove it brick by brick to below the roofline and then just fix the roof, but make sure someone has a clear knowledge the fireplace is no longer for heating it just for looking now

You stated that the chimney was not being used but could it be used in the future???? How much trouble would be involved to restore to operational status?????? Could be a factor to a potential buyer should you consider selling the property in the future....,,,,, drill sgt.

quote:

Originally posted by MikeinNC:
Yeah you can re-do the mortar in the joints, it’s called pointing.

And you can remove it brick by brick to below the roofline and then just fix the roof, but make sure someone has a clear knowledge the fireplace is no longer for heating it just for looking now

There’s no fireplace.

I’ll look into pointing. Thanks.

quote:

Originally posted by drill sgt:
You stated that the chimney was not being used but could it be used in the future???? How much trouble would be involved to restore to operational status?????? Could be a factor to a potential buyer should you consider selling the property in the future....,,,,, drill sgt.

I don’t think it would ever be used again. The only thing I could imagine would be if I wanted the utter aggravation of installing a wood burner. That’s a hard no from me.

I would take it down to good mortar and cap it .

They sell tubes of mortar colored caulking just for this purpose. Might be easier than packing wet mortar up the ladder.

quote:

Originally posted by selogic:
I would take it down to good mortar and cap it .

I’m sure I’ll have to check Code but this is probably the best plan.

Today's "This Old House ' episode covered this very subject.
They might have been in New Orleans, LA.
If you will be searching for it.

quote:

Originally posted by bendable:
Today's "This Old House ' episode covered this very subject.
They might have been in New Orleans, LA.
If you will be searching for it.

Excellent. I’ll try to find that, thanks.

We had water weeping into our house through our chimney and leaking into our living room. We hired a company that specialized in chimney's to grind out the mortar and replace it. They also replaced several bricks that were broken and put a new mortar cap on and sprayed a sealant over the entire chimney.

quote:

Originally posted by Genorogers:
They sell tubes of mortar colored caulking just for this purpose. Might be easier than packing wet mortar up the ladder.

This^^^ works pretty well. Easier than pointing. Some actually has sand embedded in it for a more authentic look and added durability.

Make sure the top (cap) is sealed and not cracked.