[aestra]

My parents have a fireplace in the back yard. It has completely collapsed once. My (presumably unskilled in brick laying) dad rebuilt it but now it is falling apart again. I'm guessing the original builder wasn't skilled in brick laying either.

Thanks for the info, I always wondered why that fireplace wasn't staying up.

[unsquare]

Beyond structural issues, these types of fireplaces shouldn't be built using normal bricks, they aren't exactly safe. ( the bricks can explode under certain conditions )

There's also a special type of brick and cement that is required for the inner layer of the fireplace.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_brick