Hi I'd like some advice on spalling bricks.

I have a Victorian house built in 1868. On one outside wall of the house the are several spalling bricks. These seem to be in a vertical line up the side of the house and appear to be behind an unused chimney breast. The brick pattern is similar to flemish bond,with most of the spalled bricks being headers, i.e they are connecting the inner and outer course of bricks.

The chimney stack has been taken down to below roof level and is open into the roof space. The chimneys have been blocked up in the rooms they used to serve.

My thoughts are that its a condensation issue inside the chimney which is causing problem of spalling during the winter, especially on the through headers. In the short term I intend to improve the ventilation, but one thing I'd like to do is maybe insulate the chimney breast by dropping insulation into the flues.

Could I have people opinions on this subject. Am I thinking along the right lines. Will ventilating the chimneys solve the problem and will insulating the chimneys be an effective sloution. What would be the best type of material to use for insulation, EPS beads?

Cheers.

Hi Punky,

First off, vent the flues, see how it goes before going to the expense of insulating!

SSM

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