Bricks, Masonry, Asphalt and Concrete - Type of brick to use??

Years ago when the original boiler was installed the contractor couldn't get the monster into its room because of the the back wall of the firplace. He knocked off the corner of the chimney and damaged about 20 bricks. The damage was patched with mortar and does not present a strucutural problem. I want to restore the masonry and wonder what kind of brick I should use. The existing brick is what i would call a standard common red brick that is smooth on all sides. I visited HD this morning and found a red clay brick that appears to be a bit on the orange side of red and rougher (more porous).

Will this brick work?

Thanks

DavidJ

the most important thing is that brick be of similar composition more so than appearance. well that is often the case anyway although you probably don't want it to be glaringly differnetni appearance either. fortunately for me there is lost of construction going on in my area so there is no shortage of bricks to be had from houses that are all identical to mine and by the same builder. some important questions for you to answer are what year was the house built, what kind of mortar was used and how soft are the bricks.

I recently rebuilt parts of a chimney wall where previously someone had used very hard modern mortars and something that was very very hard and cementious. the bricks that were around these areas were all literally pulverized from the movement of the wall.

so, if you can, find out when your house was built. if it is pre 1930's or 40's, try to find some old bricks to make the repair. failing that, try somewhere other than home depot, where you can find a larger variety of bricks. use of a soft mortar in the repair will prevent any damage occurng during movement.

dave in dc