My brick fireplace leaves only 24 inches of drywall between the mantel and ceiling. There are 8 courses of brick below the mantel. Can I safely remove the top 4 courses, replace the mantel and patch the drywall without ruining (loosening) the rest of the brick? What tools would I need for removing the bricks?
I thought this would be fairly simple. The bricks I want to remove are only 1 brick deep, in front of/against the drywall. There may or may not be drywall behind the bricks. Does that matter? The fireplace is original to the house, built in 1988. Assuming there's no structural damage already, is there a tool that will cut through the mortar with little or no vibration damage to the remaining wall or chimney?
Check your local codes for the required height the mantel must be over the firebox. 18" is norm. Otherwise you will have no problems. Use a 4" grinder with a diamond wheel. Will make a big mess, so protect everything and ventilate the room. Or less mess with a Fien multi-master (vibrates and little dust)... But you may be able to simple tap the bricks towards the top edge and they should break loose from the mortar joint.
Posts: 44 | Location: Ct | Registered: Dec 03, 2008
as joe says we can tse it but..if you were to use a 4 1/2 grinder with a diamond blade. you could cut along the morter joint. then remove the brick. the draw back to this....dust... the grinder will create a dust cloud. mask off,cover up. and get a wet/dry vac have someone hold the nosel of the dry vac close to the grinder. while gutting you will need leather gloves,eye protection and a dust mask...
Posts: 1598 | Location: i i live in southern mississippi | Registered: Jun 01, 2008
