Or is this somehow part of the process for mortaring brick? ETA: Also, the amount of bricks he quoted as replacing is quickly rising. Should I be asking him to save the bricks so I can view them and ensure he's not removing good brick? [IMG]http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8098/8592416119_1b2d774515.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8530/8592416127_8ea0a9547c.jpg[/IMG]

We recently had a fire in the attic. The fire was contained to the attic but the living space below suffered severe water damage. We plan to demo the entire roof (top plate and up), gut the living space down to the studs and build back from there. My question concerns the brick chimney. As you can see in the photo, the outside of the chimney was exposed to the fire and smoke in the attic. Otherwise the chimney is fine and I do not plan to demo the chimney. What is the best way to clean the brick and seal in the smoke smell? I would rather not use a lot of water to clean the brick although using some water would be acceptable, e.g. using a pressure washer. (I am trying to protect a mantle below.) Is there a product available that would work good to clean the brick? The same (or similar) situation exists at the brick in the gable ends. These brick will be taken down before the roof is removed and reused (unless the heat or smoke has made them unusable). Unlike the chimney brick, which must be cleaned in place, the brick from the gable ends can be cleaned anywhere. I expect that I will end up painting the brick with Kilz to seal in the smoke smell. Does anyone have any other suggestions? Thanks in advance for the help.