When it comes to taking care of your chimney, spalling is an extremely common issue amongst plenty of chimney owners in colder climates such as Toronto, Canada. It is important to keep up to date with chimney maintenance to help prevent chimney brick spalling as well as any other brickwork problems you may have when it comes to your beautiful fireplace. Since brick is one of the most used materials when it comes to constructing a chimney, let’s take a look at some of the many ways to prevent problems in your brickwork at home.

Always Investigate for Any Signs of Damage

Investigating for signs of damage includes keeping on the lookout for any chimney brick spalling. For those of you who are not as familiar with brickwork problems and damages, you may be thinking, what exactly is spalling? Or perhaps, what are some of the common causes for chimney brick spalling? To answer these questions, spalling brick typically occurs anytime moisture seeps its way into a brick causing the brick to either flake, crumble, or oftentimes pop out of your chimney completely. A few factors that also contribute to the spalling of bricks include poor construction methods, pressure washing, and of course, weather changes. When it comes to the weather, there is not much one can do to stop or change it, therefore, it is important to check up on your bricks consistently to ensure there are no extreme signs of damage.

While on the subject of spalling bricks, it is also important to note the fact that this can do some serious damage to your health, as well as your chimney. What are some ways brick spalling can affect your health safety? Any extreme cases of mold caused by the spalling of chimney bricks can lead to a series of health risks. In addition to this, spalling can also be a huge safety hazard as it can cause your chimney to collapse entirely, as well as cause structural damage to different parts of your home. Once again, the most effective way to prevent spalling is to be consistent with checking for signs of damage.

Be Aware of the Fact That Brick Can Change in Volume

Bricks are simply made in a way that causes them to expand. This means that over time bricks will most likely increase in size in the span of their lifetime, even if it is only a slight increase. In order to work around this and keep your bricks from cracking, it is important to use expansion joints in your brickwork. What does it mean to use expansion joints?

Expansion joints in brickwork are used to prevent any signs of cracking that can be caused by a change in temperature, moisture expansion, settlement, or creep. When it comes to applying expansion joints, be aware of the fact that the positioning and spacing of expansion joints in brickwork will be different from structure to structure.

Install a Quality Drainage System

Lastly, another way you can prevent spalling in your brickwork is to install a quality drainage system to help move water away from masonry structures.

Now that you have a better understanding of what causes the spalling of bricks and how dangerous it can be for your chimney as well as your health, it is important to keep up to date on the maintenance of your chimney. For further information on how to properly maintain or restore your brickwork, visit Turnbull Masonry to learn more. You may contact us and get a free quote on our maintenance prices and more.