is it so bad that raking out and repointing won't fix it? that's what i did on mine, and the top few rows of bricks were completely loose and some i could literally lift off.
To be honest I'm only going on what the chimney/fireplace folks said. I'll definitely be getting a few more quotes on the work. The pictures and videos he took do suggest a fair amount of rebuilding to me though :(
is it so bad that raking out and repointing won't fix it? that's what i did on mine, and the top few rows of bricks were completely loose and some i could literally lift off.