One example of an old worn brick chimney

The chimney the pictures below is probably well over a hundred years old and looks as if it’s never been repaired or pointed.

The mortar joints are deteriorated so bad that the bricks themselves are almost loose.

Also, you can see this chimney has no spark arrestor or cap. So essentially rain water or precipitation will just go straight down inside of the inside of the house and there’s nothing to keep rodents out such as a rodent guard, and leaving the top flue is missing.

The remarkable part is that if you know Capitol Hill and DC houses well then you know that this is actually not uncommon. This particular chimney is overdue for some restoration though at this point.