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chimney rebuild

Stray | Posted in Photo Gallery on September 27, 2007 08:35am

I know I always appreciate it when people come back to old posts, and show us how a project turned out in the end.

Well, 5 years after asking for advice on it (see original thread 21017.1 if you like) 

…I finally rebuilt my chimney from the roof  up.

View Image

 

Took me a week working solo.  Satisfying work, but I certainly won’t miss hauling brick and mortar up a ladder.  It’s nothing fancy, just functional.  I had intentions of doing something more decorative with the brick instead of just the single corbled course at the top; but time was running out and I had to just get it done. 

I hadn’t counted on the new modular brick being smaller than the oiginal, so my head joints are a bit larger than I would’ve liked.  Otherwise, not a bad first-time DIY brick project.

Many thanks to MikeSmith and others for their initial advice.

Mike: I also used your trick from the “Adverse Conditions” thread with the rope wrapped around the clay liners to isolate it from the poured cap.  Worked like a charm!

View Image

View Image

My stainless flue cap is on order, then I can scratch this off the to-do list.  Now the roof is next!

 


Edited 9/27/2007 1:37 pm ET by Stray

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  1. Stanford | Sep 27, 2007 09:15pm | #1

    Nice work. You saved yourself some jack that's for sure.

    1. Stray | Sep 27, 2007 10:11pm | #2

      True enough. 

      If course now I know why the price I originally got ($4-$5K) was as high as it was!  I think my arms stretched an inch longer carrying bricks up the ladder... 

      1. MikeSmith | Sep 28, 2007 12:59am | #3

        stray... that is one nice looking job... you done us proud...

        i know laying brick and building a chimney certainly gives me an appreciation for the trade... i think i've built about 4 chimneys & 5 fireplace / chimneys

        getting ready to do some drywall in the front of our property

        native stone.... 30" high  x 24" wide with two-man caps... i've got about 50'  left to finish our frontageMike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore

        1. Piffin | Sep 28, 2007 03:06am | #5

          I always had this romantic notion I would like to build a stone house someday...That is, untill I had to rebuild a stone wall last year after clipping it with the rear bumper of y truck turning in....LOL 

           

          Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!

          1. MikeSmith | Sep 28, 2007 04:43am | #6

            if not a stone house... at least a stone ender.. with a sleep-in fireplaceMike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore

          2. Stray | Sep 28, 2007 05:49am | #9

            "I always had this romantic notion I would like to build a stone house someday"

            I've shared that delusion for years as well.  I just haven't figured how to support my family for a year or so while I make it happen!

            Met a guy in Hancock NY who built his stone house on the edge of the Delaware river.  kind of a free-form style with big chunks of native granite.  That, plus the fact that he runs his own smokehouse 50 foot from his house, make me envious of him every once in a while...

            http://www.greentreks.org/allprograms/roughterrain/eelman/index.asp

            He only got 3/4ths of the stone house done before winter, and lived in it all winter as a leanto, then finished it up the following summer. 

             

             

              

          3. WNYguy | Sep 28, 2007 04:01pm | #10

            Stray, nice work!

            You say you'll be re-roofing next?  How will that effect your existing flashing? (Done beautifully, BTW).

            I also had the dream of building a stone house.  I even bought the land for it, overlooking Cayuga Lake north of Ithaca, N.Y.  The plan was to build a Federal-style house with a stone mason friend of mine.  I've given up on the dream, but my friend hasn't.

            Another friend, after 15 years, just completed a magnificent stone house south of Ithaca.  Spectacular setting, and spectacular house.  He's considering selling, though, because when he finally got rid of the "temporary" mobile  home and moved into the new house, the taxes shot up to $20K a year -- or something like that.

            I hope to post some photos of that house when I get 'em.

            Allen

          4. Stray | Sep 28, 2007 07:23pm | #11

            I did new counter flashing, but left the old step flashing in place for now.  It doesn't show well in the photos, but the roof is realllllly bad, and the step flashing was glopped with multiple layers of roof tar over the years, making it "one" with the FG shingles.  I was afraid if I tried to remove the steps, I'd be into major shingle repair.  The roof just has to last until spring.  I think I can do the new steps by carefully removing the old and then sliding the new ones up behind the counterflash as I go.  We'll see if that works out or not

            If you still have the lake property and want to sell...let me know!

            Yeah, taxes here (NY) are crazy.  I pay $5K+ in property taxes on my little run down ranch house... 

          5. WNYguy | Sep 28, 2007 09:29pm | #12

            "I think I can do the new steps by carefully removing the old and then sliding the new ones up behind the counterflash as I go."

            That should work.

            I'm in the process now of selling that lake-view property to my stone mason friend.  He can keep the dream alive ... and pay the taxes on it!  One of the hold-ups with construction has been the initial cost of a septic plan.  Cayuga County requires a brand new engineer's plan (several thousand $$) for a raised-bed system.

            Tompkins County, just a few miles down the road, allows off-the-shelf plans.

            Allen

            Edited 9/28/2007 2:31 pm ET by WNYguy

          6. smslaw | Sep 28, 2007 10:43pm | #13

            I always had this romantic notion I would like to build a stone house someday...

            Is your island full of nice granite chunks laying all over the place, like Vinalhaven?

          7. Piffin | Sep 29, 2007 02:18am | #14

            errant bolders from the glacial ages.Dig any hole and you got rocks 

             

            Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!

        2. Stray | Sep 28, 2007 05:29am | #7

          Thanks for the compliment Mike.

          Dry walls I've actually done lots of.  Used to work for landscapers doing flagstone patios and dry-laid stone walls in upstate NY and Boston.  Loved the work, and knowing that what you did was going to be there for a long while. 

          Good luck with your wall (pics will be forthcoming no doubt???) 

  2. Piffin | Sep 28, 2007 03:04am | #4

    And you did all that in your bare feet!?!?

     

     

    Welcome to the
    Taunton University of
    Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime.
     where ...
    Excellence is its own reward!

    1. Stray | Sep 28, 2007 05:33am | #8

      re. bare feet

      Actually, I had expected to get some form of safety reprimand from some BT'er for that photo!

      if I had boots, maybe it wouldn't have taken me the whole week LOL! 

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