Crack in firebox

marcus118

I've got a vertical crack in my fireplace in the new home I just bought. I called in a mason who said I'll need to replace 5-6 bricks to fix. He quoted me $500 - is that a reasonable price to replace 5 bricks in a fire box? Seems pretty high.

I'm in NJ by the way.

guynextdoor

That seems a pretty high amount. Have you tried getting quotes from other masons? Try to get at least 3 quotes before deciding.

concretepumper

Is it high for 5 bricks maybe, but for his bother to come out do the job, not make a mess, and pay his employee(s) no I wouldn't do it for less than that

concretepumper

Plus taking your time to chisel the existing brick out is time consuming

pwgsx

you could patch it with this stuff

http://www.belowthemantle.com/shop/p...roducts_id=190

itsreallyconc

not having used this material, the method's still the same,,, crack repair's not like repointing,,, when you repoint, the reservoir's there & & just needs cleaning & filling,,, for proper crack repair, you need to CREATE the proper sized reservoir ( usually by chasing the crk w/diamond blade & 4" grinder ),,, google/ging that material & see what the product sheet says it needs for the repair to be acceptable,,, otherwise, if you don't feel comfortable doing that, pick the masonb w/whom yhou are most comfortable,,, saving a couple $$$ will haunt you IF the repair's ineffective as you'll just call in another guy & pay more $$$ not to mention listening to your bride, nagzilla, remind you she liked the 1st 1 better brides always 2nd guess !

the above poster, pwgsx, likes caulk in moving joints,,, i'm hesitant joining that opinion

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if you hear it from a guy in the apron store, be VERY suspicious the mtl/method will work,,, when it time to build something together, they won't answer phones NOR help
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pwgsx

Im sorry itsreallyconc lives with a nagzilla- he is a little bitter about anyone giving other ideas. The stuff I mentioned is in a caulking tube, would you like it better if it was in a tub buddy??

NOW,
If your looking for something to fill the crack, give it a try, I used it before on a outdoor fireplace and it worked just fine and is rock solid with no cracks.

itsreallyconc

stand by what i said - be certain the crack allows this ' stuff ' to perform correctly as it was designed to do - the dimensions are usually found in the mfg's product sheets

then again, for $ 1.09 + tax, buy a tube & smear it over the crack as what's-'is-name did,,, just remember cracks are usually an indication of settlement OR a structural problem

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if you hear it from a guy in the apron store, be VERY suspicious the mtl/method will work,,, when it time to build something together, they won't answer phones NOR help
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pwgsx

Check your other post!!

Depends if the cracks were from heat or structure. I would be troubled to see a crack in a firebox from structure. My guess is the bricks were not fired right when they were made and formed a crack.

jomama45

Seems like it may be a minimum charge, and I can't say I necessarily blame him, as it's a PITA job with lots of dust, hard materials, specialized fireclay, soot, etc.... that needs to be dealt with in a finished living space........