Fireplaces, Heating Stoves, Flues and Chimneys - Fireplace face has cracked a smile

Hi,

Our house had a wood stove in a corner of the sunroom, which fed into a dedicated chimney. The 5 feet tall brick face of the chimney/fireplece cuts the corner of the room. The rectangular chimney "picks up" at 5 feet high and goes to the ceiling (and beyond). We have decommissioned the stove. When we payed attention to the brick face of the "fireplace" we noticed that on one side the top three rows of bricks have jointly separated from the bottom rows; the morter went with the top three rows. At the edge the gap is 1/2 inch wide and it narrows to nothing close to the midway point of the fireplace. when I put my face close to the gap I can feel the fresh air flowing through it into the room.

What is the best way to patch the gap and to fix the problem. I don't know how long it has been like this but I suspect many years. The sunroom is built on a concrete slab that is in perfect condition; no cracks at all.

Thanks in advance!

Leo.

Leo,
Is the chimney lined? Older chimneys had no terracotta(clay) liner, just brick on brick construction.
I'm guessing when you say "picks up" you mean it does not connect to the slab? But sits on wood framing inside the wall.
To properly answer your question we will need a little more info.
I'm picturing a free standing wood stove with stove pipe connecting to the exposed chimney????

Thanks for responding, bigbry!

I don't know how to check whether the chimney is lined or not. Let me give the description another shot.

Picture the free-standing wood-stove with a stove pipe connecting to a brick hearth that is five feet high and cuts the corner of the room on a diagonal. At the top of the hearth (and all the way to the ceiling) you can see two exposed walls of a rectangular chimney (whose walls are parallel to the walls of the room). Two horizontal areas on the top of the hearth (where one can put flowers, pictures and other such mantelpiece items) are triangular in shape.

:-)

Leo.

Well Leo the easiest way to determine if the chimney is lined is to go up on the roof or have someone else go up and look down the chimney. The reason why it is important is that will determine how to properly repair the chimney,
If its brick on brick then simply filling the crack with mortar would probably work. However if its lined then the crack is more into the "damage" term due to something that could potentially be pretty bad.
For example IF you wanted to use the chimney again or IF you were to sell the house then an inspector would pick it up.
If unlined, and IF you wanted to put it back into use, then simple mortar would fix the minor crack but then you really should re-line the chimney with a flexable metal liner which would connect directly to the free standing stove.
If its lined with a clay liner then determining why its cracked will have to be the first step. Clay liners normally do not crack or seperate so badly that it also cracks the surrounding brick to let fresh air in. And a minor repair with relining could be a waste of money until the real problenm was addressed first.
Hope that makes sense.
If you are at all uneasy about getting on the roof then call a chimney sweep to inspect it. There will be an inspection fee. He may also be able to determine if say a chimney fire was the cause for the crack as well.

Good luck and keep us posted.