Rebuilding a Chimney

Six years ago, during the purchase process, two inspectors pored over BHH with a fine-toothed comb. The list of their findings was long, but there were no deal-breakers. I distinctly remember one of the inspectors telling me, All this house really needs is money and time. Truth. A complete chimney rebuild made the list. However, after we closed the deal, during triage, the immediate needs were a new roof, exterior paint, and an electrical panel. We eventually solicited bids for a new chimney, but we could not afford it, so we tabled the project.

Three Fireplaces, One Chimney

The main reason why the project is so expensive is that this one chimney serves three fireplaces, each right above the other, for three floors.

Our bedroom fireplace:

The fireplace in the living room:

And the scariest basement fireplace you will ever see (Cue the nightmares):

How Does That Work?

The fireboxes decrease in size from the basement up. Also, there are three separate flues that start out stacked one behind the other, and then they jog out to either side of the center flue. The ash dumps for the living room and bedroom fireplaces empty into the basement fireplace. Three 8″X8″ clay flue liners stick out of the top of the single chimney.

If you are unclear about what all of this means, this website has an excellent illustration of the anatomy of a single chimney. Picture that times three. Also, for more fascinating information about ash dumps, be sure to listen to the Ash Dump Archaeology episode of the True Tales From Old Houses podcast.

Rebuilding The Chimney: Finally.

After five years in BHH and two years of saving, this project is in progress. We shelled out big bucks to hire one of the best masons in the area. He and his crew started last Monday.

The crew spent the entire first day setting the scaffolding.

Four work days later, the old chimney is mostly dismantled.

I am so fascinated by their progress.

The Process of Rebuilding a Chimney

In list form:

• Set up scaffolding
• Cover and protect the roof and windows
• Take existing chimney down to the roof line
• Keep three brick flue openings intact with 8X8 clay liners
• Build new chimney back to the proper height
• Install flashing
• Pour a new 4″ thick concrete cap
• Seal everything

For the new chimney, we chose Old Mystic tumbled red bricks. They are not quite as beautifully imperfect as our historic bricks, but they are a good compromise. Our mason, Jack, tried to save the old bricks for me so I could use them somewhere else, but he was only able to salvage about twenty. He will put some of them back into the new chimney too.

The entire process should take about two weeks. When they are finished, I will try to climb up on the roof to take some proper photos. Between now and completion, there will be regular updates over on Instagram.

We are getting closer than ever to cozy winter fires at BHH. What a happy thought.