I have a brick walkway that is crumbling, we think due to the previous owners using salt on it. My wife and I got some estimates that honestly are probably fair, but more than we are prepared to spend, so we decided to try to tackle it ourselves. We have all the bricks up, revealing a thick, heavy base that appears to be compacted stone or mortar. I had trouble getting through it with a sledgehammer and a hammer drill. So, we’d like to repair the base and lay the bricks or new pavers on top of it. It’s a raised base, so we can’t really use sailors, so we were going to mortar 2 rows of bricks along the sides and then lay bricks with sand in the middle. The trouble is, some portions of the edges of the base have broken. I was planning to repair the broken portions with concrete before laying the new bricks and mortar on top of it. Does this sound like a reasonable approach? I’ve never done any concrete before, so do you have any pointers on what type of concrete or mortar we should use? Thanks for any help you can offer, I really hope we can do this ourselves!

After 3-days of hard rain I noticed my all brick chimney was leaking. Today I went to check it out and some bricks are damaged and the crown is lifting from the chimney. Looks like it was caulked at one point. I will attach some pictures for reference. I had a mason come out and take a look and he quoted me $6,500. I about threw up. I don't plan to stay in this house for more than 2-5 years and don't really have that much cash sitting around for a chimney. Any suggestions on what to do without having to have it rebuilt from the roof line up?