Expert: Bart Ogden - 8/10/2010

Question
Please help.  We are selling our house and the buyers inspector noted that the chimney is cracking in the attic and there are some loose bricks above the roof.  We've had 3 repair people in and have two very different opinions on how the fix the problem.  The first guy said the chimney has to be removed to the attic floor and rebuilt.  He said the chimney was parged once already and you can only parge a chimney once and when that fails, rebuild is the only thing to do.  Two others have indicated that that simply isn't true. They can re-parge for a fraction of the cost to rebuild.  My question is, can a chimney be safely parged more than one time? The chimney is used only for venting oil furnace now, and for at least the last 5 years, when we bought the house.  We were told when we moved in that we couldn't use the fireplace because the oil furnace was vented through the chimney. Our buyer was told the same thing. Any insight would be helpful as I've never dealt with fireplaces and chimneys before.  Thank you.

Answer
Hi Cindy,

My advice would be remove all loose bricks and rebuild as required.

Parging is nothing more than a band-aid and doesn't solve the real issue.

Thanks for using AllExperts.Com and good luck with your project.

Sincerely,
A. Bart Ogden, President
Home Safe Hearth & Chimney, Inc.
Wichita, KS
Voice 316-265-9828
Fax 316-265-9890
www.HomeSafeKS.com

CSIA Certified Chimney Sweep #2653
CSIA Certified Dryer Exhaust Technician #10
NFI Certified Wood Specialist
NFI Certified Gas Specialist
NFI Certified Pellet Specialist
NFI Master Hearth Professional
NCSG Technical Advisory Council Member

Advice given is general in nature. Local laws and ordinances may govern and/or supersede the information and recommendations provided. Final determinations are the responsibility of a local professional with first-hand knowledge of the situation, and the AHJ.

Note: Dissemination, distribution or copying of any part of this email or its attachments is prohibited without the expressed permission of the sender.