Any help with this? How do I get cement.. or what do I use to re-coat this and get it to stick? Nothing is holding. Is there a quick fix? We're in the middle of a kitchen remodel and a new back deck. Anything the will buy me a year or 2? Looks to be standard chimney block that a precious owner skim coated?

To me you have some serious issues with the bricks, there used to be some bond agents to help but I would say you would have to remove the stuff the owner tried to stick on there.

That's a mess. Masonry block don't hold up well in the elements. Brick chimneys can go a hundred years or more but you're lucky to get twenty-five out of block. We used to use an adititive called C-21 if I remember right. It was a bonding agent we used on chimney caps. It really helps mortar adhere. You either tear it down and start from scratch or parge it again.

Knock it down, and replace with dbl wall insulated, and box it with your preferred asthetic if necessary.

Somebody else was looking to get away with a couple of year fix too, I think it needs to be stripped clean and resurfaced with stucco.

We repaired a chimney top in southern Maine some years back. My attentive buddy noticed a brick with an inscription on it. The original mason had inscribed the brick with his name and the date before the brick was fired. It dated to the mid 1850's.

My idea of the perfect outside stack would be a brick shell with a stainless liner.

The stucco is a good idea.

This is what I thought too. I'll probably let it go until spring and just go double wall and box it in. Thanks guys! As always, the best resource around!

Posco, box it with clay bricks?

I should have added, it only vents an oil fired boiler, nothing else. Do I even need to run it up above the roof line? Is there an alternative?

If it can be converted to a power vent you could just go out the side of the house but not all things can have that done to them best to check with an HVAC guy.

I prefer solids. I think they're less susceptible to moisture, freeze/thaw and they take up less mortar. I like waterstruck (molded) as opposed to an extruded brick.

Code requires it if that's a concern.

Yeah, I want to keep it to code. If I ever decide to sell and move out of New Yorkistan, I want to minimize my problems!

Lick and stick fake stone would be easy but the corners are expensive
It could be wrapped in wood using furring

The roof tie in is the only thing a monkey could not do

Can you negotiate it with a buyer or does the bank want it done before a sale? There's no cheap fix there unless you're handy yourself.

It will probably be a difficult fix. In order to get something to stick to that you will need to remove any loose material and then use a bonding agent to get the new coat to stick well. A good quality acrylic polymer added to your mix and maybe an epoxy bonding aid.

Below are some products I used in a previous life. Not sure where you could source them now.

Relay Resurfacer

Forton Acrylic Additive

Sikadur Epoxy Bonder




Another option would be to cover the whole thing in diamond lathe and recoat it. If you do that it would take two coats. A scratch coat first and then a finish coat.

Attaching steel lath and doing a two-part parge was my first thought when I looked at the picture. It looks like it is built of cinder blocks and not modern concrete masonry units/modern building blocks. Cinderblocks are known to just start deteriorating after a certain period of time. I pity folks who have basements built out of them.

I have resurfaced many chimneys that looked like yours by attaching steel lath and using a good concrete bonder in the parge coats.

Code does not require vent to be above the roof, you can install a power exhauster like in the link below and do away with the chimney all together. Just mount above snow line and leave clearance from intakes & openings.
power exhauster

Thanks guys! I'll try the lath and if that doesn't work then I'll just box it in.



It's not for a sale, I'm tried of looking at it and now it looks worse than when I started.

It's in that condition because it is venting an oil fueled appliance. New York's freeze and thaw climate doesn't help it at all either. It needs a SS liner. Terra cota flues do not hold up to the products of combustion given off by burned oil. The main issue is that burned oil gives off sulfer dioxide and when combined with water it forms sulferic acid and eats away at the structure. All you see is the exterior damage, the interior portion that contains the products of combustion is likely in shambles. Don't believe me? Crawl on the roof and look down inside or contact a CSIA or NCSG certified technician to come on site and run a camera through it to give an estimate.

All chimneys need to meet the 3-2-10 rule. 3 feet out of the roof minimum and 2 feet higher than ant part of the structure within 10 feet.

The entire chimney structure needs to be tore down and rebuilt and an SS liner dropped and hooked into the fuel oil appliance. I know chimney prices in NY are similar to MN. Expect to pay approximately 6-9,000.00 for such work. Price depends on height and access. An oil grade insulated pipe properly installed might be less but it doesn't accommodate for the siding behind it that will be either non existent or discolered to the rest. A chase would need to be built and that would likely end up costing more but I am uncertain, that is outside of my line of work.