Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1873-10-16
Building Brick ChImney-Tops.

As CHIMNEY-TOPs are exposed to the al
| ternate influences of wet and dry, freezing
and thawing, more than any other part of
| brick ediice, it is important that the
bricks and the mortar should be of the best
| quality Many brickmasons of the pres
| ent day do no appear to know that when
mortar is made of lime and loan for
| building chimney-tops both the bricks
and the mortar will absorb rain until the
entire top is thoroughly saturated Then,
in cold weather, before the water has
| evaporated, the brick work is frequently
| frozen through and through, by which
means such brick as have been burned TO
dark cherry-red color will be disinte-
grated by the frost, and the mortar will
| bulge out at every joint If the chimneys
| are not covered with copestone or brick
| work rain will flow down on the inside ;
and If the chimney extends down through
the attic the wall on the side of the brick
work will be seriously damaged In many
| instances we have known such volume
OF water to fall down the inside of large
chlmneytOp as 10 saturate the bottom
| bricks to excess, and then pass down be-
yond the closet, or other foundation on
which the chimney rested, to the serious
injury of walls beneath We have in
mind chlmney-top standing on closet
IN the attic of a farmers dwelling which
collected such volume of water during
every protracted storm that a colored
liquid would flow down through the bot
| tom Of the chimney, and they were oblig-
ed to keep a washtub beneath to collect
the droppings. After bushel of sand
was poured down in the top of the chin
ney no more liquid passed through.
The bricks of every oh inpn toy, cborl1
be so thoroughly burned that they Will
not disintegrate if allowed to lie on the
| ground from year to year. Then when
| they are laid they should be soaked in
water until they cease to absorb it. When
| dry bricks are laid in mortar the moisture
OF the mortar will be absorbed SO readily
| by the bricks that the union between the
mortar and bricks will be simply me-
chanical, and there will be comparatively
| little strength in the mortar, for the reason
that it dries too rapidly. But when wet
and hard burned bricks are laid up in
mortar made of clean sand-sav four or
| I'VE parts, one part of good lime lust
| slacEed. and one part of prime cement
| the mortar will unite with the bricks, dry
| slowly and become almost as solid as the
bricks. We have in mind large chimney.
| tops which were built in the foregoing
manner IN the year 1905, and which are in
good condition at the present time, hay
ing never been repaired during that long
| period
When a chimney collects so much wa
| ter that it soaks through the sides or bot
tom to the injury of the wall, brick arch
should be made over the top, or a cap
stone should cover it, supported at the
| four corners by pieces of bricks, so that
there will be free passage beneath the
stone Of not less than four inches on both
sides of the chimney. Half a dollars
worth Of good cement, in connection with
good lime and clean sand, will often save
an expense for repairs and damage to
walls amounting to ten or more dollars
| n. Y. Herald