Our Chimney was in bad repair, and we had two chimney companies come and and say basically the same thing, it needed to be partially torn down, re-bricked, new crown, new damper door. Ok, so the company we went with was out working on it today. When I saw the result of the partially done job it gave me concern, the bricks seem to have excess space between the bricks.
Upon inspection, the new bricks are a half 1/2 inch shorter than the previous bricks. The morter between the bricks is an inch wide though, is this a sign of bad masonry?