Advice needed: There are 2 unused brick chimneys we have to remove in an old two–story house my son and I are rehabbing. We have quite a bit of experience at rehabbing but have never taken down chimneys before and would like advice on the best, shortest, safest way to do it and which are the best tools to use for the job. We at first thought we would spread plywood on the floors around the chimneys then hammer away at the grout lines with cold chisels and heavy hammers. On reflection, though, that seemed rather old fashioned and heavy-handed so we thought we should check with fellow handyman adventurers who might have good advice to pass on. Thank you very much.

I have personally removed brick chimney's on my parent's house. I used a club hammer and a cold chisel, and just removed the bricks one by one, from the top down. The hardest part was getting through the concrete plug that had been put in the top of the chimney.

At the time, I was wearing my rock climbing harness, with a rope going up over the top of the roofline, and secured to a tree such that if I slipped, I would not fall beyond the edge of the roof.

Thanks, dmatos. I should have mentioned that we have to remove the entire chimney below the roof and inside down to the basement level.

Is the chimney inside the house, or outside? If it's inside, it's not too big a problem. Once you get the cement cap off the top (if there is one), the bricks come apart from the top down quite easily. It's a bit awkward getting through the roof, but you should be able to do that from outside. Then it's a matter of opening up the wall the chimney is on, and just continuing to take it apart from the top down.

If the chimney is on the outside, or is an integral part of the house, then it becomes much more complicated. Your main worry will be patching up the gaping hole that the removed chimney leaves in your exterior wall. I don't think I can offer any advice there.

If its the old lime mortar you can just about pull the bricks off but if its the more modern mix -- why not just rent a hammer drill for the weekend? Make sure the one you rent can be set to just hammer and you get a chisel bit.

Thanks savage and dmatos. After procrastinaing too long and mulling over your advice I decided to give it a try myself - with excellent results. I just took a heavy hammer and hit the bricks from the side. They came loose quite easily. Thanks again.

I agree with all of you, about removing a brick chimney, I am about to do the same but I have not found, if you can tell me, how to patch the hole that the chimney is going to leave. Mine is in the livingroom and it is part of the wall dividing the living room from the hallway.

It's a matter of replacing studs and building the wall as if the chimney was never there. Insulate if you can for noise. Then Drywall to match the existing thickness. Really easy. If you can pull down a chimney, you should have no trouble. How long did it take to remove a one level story exterior chimney?