one done

It was 2F when I was up at 3 this morning, and it's a brisk 3F now at 8 am.

Seems a good day to write about a recent project.

2024 has been a year of major projects, some of which are going to flow into 2025. But one project that was undertaken and completed in two November days, is the rebuilding of my chimney.

Ever since the roof was replaced in 2017, there has been a gradually increasing leak in the parlor, from around the chimney. Whether the leak was coming from the 85-year-old chimney itself, the flashing, or the roof, was uncertain. Even if I was still capable of clambering around on my roof I might not have been able to identify the source, but in previous years I would have at least gone up to take a look. Not this time.

Back in February I decided that regardless of whether I would continue heating with wood - a question at the heart of a different 2024 project which will be a topic for another post - I needed to get a chimney professional out here to do whatever it would take to stop the leak.

The mason came out in June and looked at the job, answered all my questions about repair versus replacement, assured me that the leak in the parlor would stop, agreed that height could be added to improve the draw, and gave me a quote of $1500. to take all the original brickwork down to the tile liner and rebuild the chimney. The work was going to be done "either in August or after September." He gave me the names of a few places where I could see the various brick options, and one day I borrowed a car specifically to go brick-gazing. This decision was important; in recent years I've made a couple of big, bad, expensive decisions, the visual and practical results of which I live with every single day, and I'm trying very hard not to make more. (The metal roofing was one of those bad and expensive decisions, by the way. How I wish I had just stayed with ordinary shingles.)

Anyway. After considerable pondering, I selected the brick, and five months later the busy mason finally had the time to do my little two-day job. He arrived with an assistant and the two fellows had scaffolding up in the blink of an eye. They began removing the original brick, saving quite a bit of it for my use in a future project.

Original chimney just before work began.

Brick removal underway.

The entire 2-day process went so smoothly there are only a few snapshots. I try not to hover around people who are doing their work so I puttered by the barn, right arm still in a sling at that point, staying available for questions but also staying out of the way.

Here's the new chimney and the first fire, on November 15th:

This is one of those unforeseen tasks that was thrust upon me, so to speak. It had never once occurred to me that the chimney would need replacement in my lifetime, but the leak made it necessary to take action even if the chimney was no longer going to be used.

And it is certainly being used.

I am very happy with the replacement. (Whew.) The chimney "fits" both visually and functionally - the proportions are excellent, the appearance is smart but not glaringly new-looking. And the draw is much improved, which is a very nice bonus after 40-odd years!

How are your 2024 projects looking?

I'll bet you got more finished than I did!

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