I have 1880's brick chimney's in my home. Any ideas?

Question

My chimney's are from wood burning stoves and are no longer in use, as I found them hidden in a wall. I want to keep them exposed for good looks, but they are sort of crumbly yet secure.

What can I use to seal old brick?

Can I use a clearcoat of sorts?

Answer 1

check you local paint or masonary store. They do make a clear masonary sealer

Answer 2

Yes , they make some good sealers..........but first, do you have a place to collar tie those old chimneys to something in case you got kids and we have a little shaker........my kid is even starting to fasten is furniture to the walls.........me to actually......just to be safe..........we had a earth quake here a few years ago and all the old fire places took a pretty good beating.......one thing I did with one of mine was run a piece of flex aluminum pipe up and put a little gas stove in front....most of the old ones haven't got flue liners.......night

Answer 3

Don't mess with those. You could be opening Pandora's box. Get a mason in to take a look. You have no ideal what they look like on the inside. They were covered over for a reason. Probably cost to fix because of inside deterioration.

Answer 4

Best option is to chissel out any soft or crumbled mortor, and point ( add new cement) those areas over.Or over point the whole area you can see so the cement will match.  The easiest way is too clean out area of dust mix up some premixed cement (just add water bag), make it more dry than wet, just enough to make a meatball in your hand, too wet will make a mess, spray the brick with a mist of water, push the cement in, let it set for a couple minutes until it feels sandy, but still a darker color. ( when dry it turns light color). use a stiff tooth brush, and rub the joint horizontal lighly , using it the wide way so it over laps the joint, until the joint looks at right depth, to matchthe  old. it should look like old and rough looking.  If the exsisting is rough looking then leave it dont play with any more, if its smooth use a damp brush. Then go buy masonry sealer @ home depot, lowes any hard wear store, you will want to either roll it on , spray it or brush it. Apply as many coates as possible, letting each one soak in.. That will keep you chimney strong for another hundred years.. good luck