Brick James Masonry

Brick James Masonry Mason specializing in chimney repair/rebuilds, foundations, and all brick, block and stone work.

This past week I finished restoring and helped alleviate future issues with this chimney in Eden. The concrete cap with...
08/29/2026

This past week I finished restoring and helped alleviate future issues with this chimney in Eden. The concrete cap with rounded edges started pitting and aggregate began to show which led to a lack of water runoff and pooling when rain would hit this chimney. To counteract this in the future, I ended up resurfacing the entire concrete area with a diamond blade surface grinder to create a smooth surface where water will naturally fall down off of the cap.

An entire grind and re-point was done on this chimney along with 6 brick extractions and replacements. I will be back to remove all of the old flashing and install new flashing as well.

08/13/2026

“Learning about bricks with Brick James” Episode 1: Wood?

Moving right along onto another chimney restoration! This chimney has a top course of brick that is corbeled out with a...
08/13/2026

Moving right along onto another chimney restoration!

This chimney has a top course of brick that is corbeled out with a raised concrete cap (which by now you may know I loathe for reasons such as increased water deterioration etc…).

So to be honest (and all of this I explain to every customer in detail so they’re aware of why their chimney has started to deteriorate) the only reason we have issues on this chimney such as sprawling brick, cracked brick, popped out mortar joints, flashing damage and brick displacement is due to no drip edge.

Surprisingly, the finished concrete on top of the chimney is in excellent condition, no micro cracks from the concrete shrinking or gaps in-between the flues. So to increase longevity, I am surface grinding the entire cap to increase water runoff due to some flat areas of the concrete starting to pit from sustained standing water. A full chimney repointing will be done, brick extraction and replacement of any and all cracked bricks, flashing tear out and replacement and lastly I will be cutting a drip edge into the underside of the first course of corbeled out brick with a micro blade as I have just enough room to install one due to the amount of room available to be able to do so.

I have already smoothed out the top concrete area with a surface grinder and am done with grinding out all of the mortar joints and extracting the brick! I will be repointing the chimney today with a lighter N-Type mortar, a hint of “light Buff” mortar dye and adding an acrylic bonding agent additive to the mortar to increase overall strength of the new masonry bond.

Closed out this full chimney demo and re-build today by cleaning all of the brick and started scaffolding tear down. On...
08/12/2026

Closed out this full chimney demo and re-build today by cleaning all of the brick and started scaffolding tear down.

Only a few materials on this chimney were salvageable, two of the interior clay flues, the chimney liner and top vent cap. Other than that, everything is new and the final product turned out great. With new flashing, extra water barrier protection around the base of the chimney, and a drip-edge cut into the bottom of the pre-cast concrete cap, this chimney now has decades of use and a clean individualized tradesman look to it.

Still trying to close this chimney up. The status of the roof around the base of this chimney is up there in the cases o...
08/05/2026

Still trying to close this chimney up. The status of the roof around the base of this chimney is up there in the cases of “worst ones I’ve seen.”

I’m roughly 18 extra hours into repairing the roof around the base of the chimney which has included cutting out and replacing the original roof OSB that has been rotted due to improper flashing repairs and DIY roof replacements with no inspections done to the underside of the shingles needing to be replaced. The roof has been re-shingled THREE times and has trapped moisture inside the roofing system.

I did my best to only repair what was necessary directly around the chimney which is where most of the water damage was anyways.

A water barrier adhesive tape was applied all around the base of the chimney after the roof was re-built up to an even level, roofing underlayment was applied and step flashing was installed.

The last step in closing out this chimney is installing matching replacement shingles, using a roll of stainless steel to install proper flashing within the bottom couple courses of brickwork, and to the top layer of shingles to shed water properly down the roof and around the chimney.

I have free artistic range on this full chimney demo and rebuild (yes this is the same red brick chimney I just demo’d)....
07/28/2026

I have free artistic range on this full chimney demo and rebuild (yes this is the same red brick chimney I just demo’d). There’s not too much you can do with a 16” x 16” chimney, and generally what you’ll see is masons corbeling out the top few courses of brick at the crown or as the cap entirely. I’ll get into the reasons why that’s something a mason should NEVER do once this project is completed and I will show you what SHOULD be done.

I decided a little flair would look great on this chimney going with a faithful collaboration of black brick, black mortar and a raked mortar joint. I included a few areas of recessed brick and a “soldier” course (bricks standing vertically with the faces still out) to give this chimney some more character. I’m roughly 3/4 of the way up and hopefully will be able to finish this build by the weekend around this rain.

Once this chimney is cleaned and sealed the final product will really add more value and individuality to this property.

If your chimney looks similar to this on the outside, most likely the inside looks a lot worse. I love my job because ...
07/23/2026

If your chimney looks similar to this on the outside, most likely the inside looks a lot worse.

I love my job because there is always something new with every project. I often have to come up with an altered procedure to obtain a correct solution in restoring masonry or rebuilding a structure such as with this chimney.

This chimney has been “repaired” numerous times over a long period of time. I found 5 separate layers of mastic tar, shingles, felt wrap, metal flashing, along with a never before seen layer of foam in-between two of the courses of brick. All of these surprises lead me to take the chimney to just below the roof line and get down to the roof OSB in the vicinity around the chimney. Now I’ll be able to repair the roof and properly flash this new chimney.

Working right in Eden this week and this unfortunate beauty has got to go. There’s just too much going on and not going...
07/20/2026

Working right in Eden this week and this unfortunate beauty has got to go. There’s just too much going on and not going on with this chimney for me to even dive into for you. So I’ll be taking photos all week and sharing the treasure trove of unexpected findings that will sure keep me having a great time during this full demo and re-build.

Garage block foundation finished in Orchard Park. 22’ x 22’ with a perfect 16’ (and 1/8” for a little leeway for the doo...
07/17/2026

Garage block foundation finished in Orchard Park. 22’ x 22’ with a perfect 16’ (and 1/8” for a little leeway for the door install) opening for a double garage door and a 6’ side sliding door entranceway out to a side overhang off the right side of the garage.

Whether it is a new or existing pad, the block foundation is the most important aspect of the start of the build because any errors in the forming of the concrete pad and height has to be made up during the block construction. It has to be perfectly square and level across all sides and from diagonal corners so the initial wall construction is straight and level. All three corners are 100% square and leveled with a laser and one is 1/8” high from the back, which over a span of 22’ is below the margin of error acceptable for code.

This upcoming week will include finishing the veneer stone on this foundation in Springville, core-filling foundation bl...
07/12/2026

This upcoming week will include finishing the veneer stone on this foundation in Springville, core-filling foundation block I laid for a new garage in Orchard Park, and starting a full demo and chimney rebuild in Eden.

Address

Eden
Eden, NY
14057

Telephone

+17165509876

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