Tech Corner
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Here you can see the steel band under the concrete skirt. There were 8 pieces of this concrete skirt, each of which weighed between 500 and 600 pounds.
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The problem this repair presented was that the chimneys were constructed from the same bricks as the house and although we looked nationwide we were unable to find enough bricks to repair the chimney in the standard adhered thin brick method. Cutting then adhering the existing brick presented several problems in itself, even if we could have found a perfect match brick. Each chimney has 13 courses of decorative
corbelling. Imagine 13 layers of bricks that extend out past the brick below it to form a unique decorative design. To complicate it further some of these protruding bricks were the “points” of the brick. See the photo below and I’m sure you will appreciate the magnitude of this problem.
Years ago we simply would have had the chimney engineered to repair it with concrete, reinforcing steel and the original brick. We would have constructed a “Bond Beam” which would have been secured to the actual structure of the house so it could not go anywhere in the event of the next earthquake. However building officials have adopted a policy of not allowing this method of repair any longer. Even when the chimney has reinforcing steel in the structure down to the footing we have had problems getting the building officials to issue the permit. The basic ideal is to keep the weight above the roofline down to a minimum. It is a sound idea. With no little weight rising high in the air the chance of bodily harm because of an earthquake is drastically reduced.
Masonry License (C-29) & General Builder (B) #783578
Southern California’s Most Reliable Chimney Specialists
Call today to schedule a chimney inspection or to request a design consultation:
866-61-BOSTON (866 612-6786)
or (626) 296-7700
or e-mail
info@bostonbrick.com
