Home › Services › Chimney Brick Replacement
Chimney Brick Replacement in Seattle, WA
Spalled, cracked or missing bricks cut out one at a time and replaced with matched units before the damage spreads. Free quote.
- Free 2nd-opinion quotes
- Price match + 10–25% discount
- Same-day service often available
Request a Free Chimney Brick Replacement Quote
Tell us what's going on — we'll confirm a time by phone or text.
Brick replacement is the repair for a chimney whose joints are mostly fine but whose bricks are not. A brick fails when its face flakes off in sheets, which is called spalling, when it cracks through, or when it has fallen out altogether. Each failed brick is a hole in the chimney's skin that lets more water in, so the damage spreads from a few units to a patch to a face. We cut the failed bricks out individually, clean the pocket, and lay in a matched replacement so the chimney is whole again.
This is a smaller job than a chimney rebuild, which takes down whole courses, and a different job from repointing, which renews the mortar between sound bricks. The two are often paired: a chimney with a dozen spalled bricks on its weather face usually has eroded joints there too, and we do both in one visit. The judgment call is how many bricks can be replaced before a rebuild makes more sense, and we explain where we draw that line below.
We replace chimney brick across Seattle, Tacoma, Everett and the rest of King, Pierce and Snohomish counties. The quote is free, and we give a free second opinion if someone has told you the whole chimney has to come down.
Symptoms
Signs you need chimney brick replacement
- Brick faces flaking off in thin sheets, leaving a rough, lighter-colored surface
- Brick chips or flakes on the roof, in the gutter, or on the ground below the chimney
- A brick cracked through its face, or split with a piece missing
- A gap in a course where a brick has fallen out
- Spalling concentrated on one face of the chimney, usually the side that takes the weather
- Bricks that crumble when touched while the mortar around them holds
- Damage clustered under a cracked crown or where a cap should be
Common causes
- Rain soaking into the brick, then freezing and expanding inside the pores through the winter
- A cracked crown or missing cap feeding water into the top courses from above
- Mortar from a past repair that is harder than the brick, forcing moisture out through the brick face
- Soft, under-fired brick on older homes that absorbs more water than it can shed
- Moss holding water against the brick on the shaded side of the roof
How It Works
Our chimney brick replacement process
We count before we quote. Every face of the chimney is checked brick by brick and each damaged unit is marked as spalled, cracked, loose or missing, with photos, so the quote lists a number rather than a guess. We sound the surrounding bricks for units that are failing but not yet flaking, check the joints around the damaged area, and look at the crown, cap and flashing to find what has been feeding water into the brick. If the count on one face is high enough that the structure is in question, we tell you a rebuild of that section is the better answer.
Free quote and brick count
We mark and photograph each failed brick, check the joints around them, and price the replacement per unit in writing.
Match the brick
Replacement brick is matched for size, color and texture, from new stock or salvage, and you approve a sample before we start.
Cut out the failed units
Each damaged brick is cut free at the joints and removed without disturbing the sound bricks around it.
Clean and set
The pocket is cleaned of old mortar, then the new brick is bedded in a compatible mortar, face out, flush with its neighbors.
Repoint and tool
Joints around the new bricks, and any eroded joints nearby, are repacked and tooled to match the existing profile.
Stop the water and walk through
Crown, cap or flashing fixes that caused the spalling are done in the same visit where possible. If you are not happy, we are not done.
Options
Repair and service options
Brick replacement is scoped by count and location:
- Individual units: a handful of spalled or cracked bricks replaced where they sit, often in a single visit.
- Face repair: a cluster of failed bricks on one face, usually the weather side, replaced together with repointing of the joints between them.
- Replacement with repointing: when joints are eroded across the chimney as well, we combine unit replacement with repointing so the whole chimney is sealed at once.
- Matched or salvaged brick: for older chimneys where the original brick is no longer made, we source salvage or the closest modern match and show you samples.
- Flip and reset: some spalled bricks are sound behind the face and can be turned and reset with the undamaged side out, which is the best match there is.
- Section rebuild instead: when the count on a face or at the top runs high, we quote a partial rebuild of that section, which is cheaper than replacing most of its bricks one by one.
Water repellent after the repair is optional; see chimney waterproofing for when it helps.
Pricing
What affects the price
- Number of bricks replaced, from the count in the free quote
- Whether the damaged bricks are scattered or clustered in one area
- Brick matching: standard modern brick versus salvaged or special-order units
- Repointing needed around the replaced bricks
- Crown, cap or flashing work to stop the water that caused the spalling
- Chimney height, roof pitch and access
Every chimney is different, so you get a written quote after we look at the system. Ask about our price match and free second-opinion quote.
Safety & Seattle Conditions
Safety considerations
A spalling brick is a brick losing its grip. Flakes come first; whole units near the top of the stack can follow, especially when the crown above them is cracked. Keep people and cars away from that side of the house until we have inspected, and please do not go on the roof to check or pull loose pieces. We inspect for free and send close-up photos. NFPA 211 recommends an annual chimney inspection, which is when spalling is caught at the two-or-three-brick stage rather than the twenty-brick stage.
If the chimney vents a gas appliance, leave all gas components to a qualified technician, and if you smell gas, leave the house and call your gas utility or 911 from outside.
Seattle & Puget Sound conditions
Spalling is a water-and-freezing problem, and the Puget Sound supplies both. Sea-Tac's NOAA 1991-2020 normals show 40.34 inches of precipitation a year, about 73% of it October through March. The Brick Industry Association's technical notes describe the mechanism: moisture in saturated brick pores freezes and increases in volume, and repeated freeze-thaw of saturated masonry causes cracking, crazing, spalling and disintegration. Seattle sees about 60 days a year at or below 32F while winter lows average around 37F, so a wet brick crosses the freezing line many times in one winter.
Building Science Corporation's work on clay brick adds that damage risk depends on saturation plus freezing, which is why every brick replacement we do comes with a look at the crown, cap and flashing that let the brick get saturated in the first place.
Our Work
Chimney Brick Replacement in action
Get a free brick-by-brick quote
Spalled, cracked or missing bricks replaced with matched units. Free quote, free second opinion, price match plus 10-25% off. Call 206-453-2045.
☎ 206-453-2045 Request a QuoteQuestions
Chimney Brick Replacement FAQ
What is spalling, and can a spalled brick be saved?
Spalling is the brick face breaking away in flakes or sheets after water inside the brick freezes and expands. Once the face is gone the brick absorbs water faster and keeps failing, so it cannot be sealed back together. The fix is to cut it out and replace it, or in some cases turn it so the sound back face is outward. Neighbors that have not flaked yet can often be saved by stopping the water.
How many bricks can you replace before the chimney needs a rebuild?
The pattern matters more than the count. Scattered units, or a cluster on one face, are replacement work. When most of the bricks in a section have failed, when damage runs through the courses rather than across a face, or when the chimney has shifted, cutting out units one at a time costs more than rebuilding that section and leaves weak brick behind. We tell you which side of that line you are on in the free quote.
Will the new bricks match the old ones?
We match size, color and texture as closely as the market allows, using salvaged brick where the original is no longer made, and you approve a sample first. New brick reads a little cleaner than weathered brick for a season or two. On a very visible face we can replace a few extra weathered-but-sound units around the patch so the repair blends rather than sits in a block.
Why are only some bricks on my chimney spalling?
Usually because only some of them are getting wet enough to freeze. The weather face takes driving rain, the shaded side stays damp under moss, and the top courses sit under a cracked crown. On older chimneys a few under-fired units also absorb more water than their neighbors and fail first. The free quote maps where the damage is, which tells us where the water is coming from.
Do I also need repointing?
Often, yes. The water that ruined the brick has usually eroded the joints around it, and those joints are repacked when the new brick goes in anyway. If the rest of the chimney's mortar is sound, we repoint only around the replaced units. If joints are failing across the chimney, we quote full repointing alongside the brick so the whole thing is done once.
How much does chimney brick replacement cost?
It is priced per brick plus access, with matching and any crown, cap or joint work itemized separately, so a handful of units is a modest job and a full face is a larger one. The quote is free and lists the count with photos. If you already have a quote, we give a free second opinion, match the price and take a further 10-25% off.
Related services
Topic
Service areas