What are Wythe bricks?

“There is no wythe wall” – We hear this a lot from potential buyers about issues that were picked up during a home inspection, but what does it mean?
When it comes to chimneys, a wythe wall is a vertical section of masonry one brick thick. This is set in place during original construction of the chimney, and at one time, was the only flue system. As time passed, the new standard of construction was to build these wythe walls but also set clay tiles as flues.
Why is it important? Having designated flues is essential for proper venting of your fireplace, furnace, water heater, boiler, etc, and in some cases, code.
So what happens if your home was built before this standard or just doesn’t have them? Luckily, there are fixes. Depending on what you’re trying to vent, new flues can be inserted into the chimneys to carry the exhaust/gasses up and out. Because hey, that’s what it’s there for.
Below is a picture of a chimney from the top down. In this case, there are no flue tiles and the wythe wall actually collapsed, obstructing the venting from within.
WytheBricks
If you think you have chimney issues, give us a call! We’re happy to talk about it over the phone.

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