Our Chimney was in bad repair, and we had two chimney companies come and and say basically the same thing, it needed to be partially torn down, re-bricked, new crown, new damper door. Ok, so the company we went with was out working on it today. When I saw the result of the partially done job it gave me concern, the bricks seem to have excess space between the bricks.
Upon inspection, the new bricks are a half 1/2 inch shorter than the previous bricks. The morter between the bricks is an inch wide though, is this a sign of bad masonry?
Best Answer
Typical mortar joints are 3/8", but there is no rule for it, that it has to be that size. They can be much wider than that. I have seen joints as wide as you have pictured, no big deal, it is a matter of aesthetics. The mason could have looked to find the right size brick, but he may had to order them and possibly pay a premimum for them, especially if he is buying less than a cube(about 500 brick) much tougher when buying only a 100 or just a few dozen, so perhaps he went with what he could get.
The brick he is using may be 7 5/8" long, which is a "modular". The original brick may be 8" long or "standard" brick, from what I found on the internet. There is no way for me to know, it is an educated guess.