Can I dismantle a chimney "stone by stone" from the top? Encased beams.

[MrTobbe]

Feels like something with quite good weight behind it is required.

Mortar is quite easy to dismantle, I just tore down a 7m chimney with 4 flues, only had a simple hammer drill from ÖoB with a chisel, you just had to run it for a few seconds in a couple of spots and an entire round of bricks came loose.

 

[Bergslagskaminen]

Mortar is quite easy to take apart, I just tore down a 7m chimney with 4 channels, only used a simple impact drill from ÖoB with a chisel, you just had to drill for a few seconds in a couple of spots and an entire round of bricks would come loose.

Smart! Then I'll go buy one of those chisels. Thanks for the tip!

 

[torparavgrund]

I'm facing a similar job but on a smaller scale (chimney in my cabin). What tools did you use when you demolished your chimney? It feels like something with quite a bit of weight behind it is required.

A regular masonry hammer and maybe a crowbar will do fine. NOTE!!! High-quality breathing protection with a P3 filter is a must, no small paper sheet with strings will do. The stone dust is very fine and passes straight through paper masks and settles in the lungs. Google "stendammslunga" and you'll know what I mean. And while you're at it, remember to check that any vacuum cleaner has the right equipment to handle this, otherwise the stone dust goes straight through its filter and clogs the motor, causing it to burn out.

I had some sort of rough model masonry hammer I bought at a surplus store, I think it was from the Austrian military or something like that. Simple, heavy, with a blunt side and a pointed one. Besides that, I had a small crowbar.

Just gently tap with the pointed side between the stones. The mortar in chimneys is very soft (otherwise, they would crack from the heat), so most of the time only 1-2 small taps on the joint were needed for the stone to come loose. I believe in this more than using a demolition hammer to have good control over what you're doing (at least if you want to keep the bricks afterward; it's soft brick too, not at all like modern masonry brick). What takes time is hauling away stones and scooping away old mortar; loosening the stones was just a tiny fraction of the time. I wasn't prepared for the immense amounts of mortar it resulted in, surely 2-3 cubic meters just from that chimney.