Bricks displaced?

[dan orourke]

...........

[BARRY ADAIR]

Dan,

That's about one of the roughest and appears wettest fireboxes I've seen in a while. I can only imagine what the cimney/flue looked like.

I hope you referred them to someone from Chimney Safety Institute of America (http://www.csia.org)

Here is some brick patterns and motar joint info Brick - DiracDelta Science & Engineering Encyclopedia (http://www.diracdelta.co.uk/science/source/b/r/brick/source.html)

I'd also want to hear what a mason says about the apparent cold joint installation.

[Eric Barker]

Displaced, like these?

This is in the ash pit, looking up at the base of the firebox. I really have no idea of what they were trying to do or how they got the bricks to hang up there while the mortar set.

[Jerry Peck]

Dan,

Those bricks look like they were dry stacked, not laid up in mortar.

Those beg the questions: "What is being used between the bricks to: 1) hold them in place; 2) seal the gaps to resist the passage of heat and flame?"