Farewell Old Man of the Chimney!

One of the tasks I undertook this past week was the removal of an old, unused brick chimney. It was just 20" square and extended 30 inches above the roof peak and, perhaps, just as much below into the attic where it was supported by some timber cribbing.

The Old Man of the Chimney

Well, that chimney had been crumbling for years and recently the water leaks around and through it were getting worse. It had to go. Taking a little four pound sledge and a four inch masonry chisel with me up the roof and down it came. The portion above the ridge line actually came down almost entirely by hand. The mortar had grown very, very week. I was able to throw the bricks to the ground one at a time.

Inside proved a bit more difficult. The mortar was stronger and the space in the attic was a little cramped. I needed to be aware of where my head and back were at all times or the point of a roofing nail would have perforated me. Plus, the bricks had to be carried out in 5-gallon buckets under low rafters and an even lower access door. I managed to avoid the rafters but the top of my head hit the top of the door--three times.

I eventually managed to get all the bricks out, the floor cleaned of dust, debris, mouse and squirrel droppings. I then added some 2" x 4" braces across the gap where the former chimney had been. I cut some metal from left over pieces from a demolished shed and, with generous application of roofing tar, nailed the metal and a ridge cap in place.

No more chimney

The ridge cap didn't match the one already in place and tar can only do so much. A little Great Stuff sprayed in the wider gaps on the ends of the patch's ridge cap and I'm satisfied that my Good Enough Construction Co. membership is intact.

Must have worked. There was no noticeable leak after the heavy, heavy rains of Friday night and Saturday.

Removing that small section of chimney (only about 5 feet total) means a lot less weight on the pones of this old house. Another good thing, the chimney went on my terms and not its. I semi-feared I would discover it had either blown over or totally collapsed every time I went up over the last year or two. Every spring there would be more brick pieces in the melting snow as the freeze-thaw cycle took its toll.