Masonry Estimate

After Clint and I ventured up into the attic last week for the first time, we noticed that the bricks in the chimney turn to dust when you touch them. Also, during the home inspection it was mentioned that the mortar at the base of the chimney wasn't the most solid ever. This was probably the singular thing that made us not want to buy the house because all I could picture was sleeping at night hearing a low rumble "what was that?" and all the sudden having the entire chimney come down through the walls. (On an intersting note, many of you may already know this but chimneys are on a separate foundation from the house- that's why a lot of times when you see old houses that have collapsed, or are burned there is a pile of rubble around a still-standing chimney.) We received reassurrance that it wasn't likely (or enough so it seems), but still knew it was something we needed to have looked at sooner or later. It doesn't help either that the chimney on the roof looks like it's ready to topple over any minute. So all led us to call a masonry person for yet another estimate as part of my plan to have everything priced out that we could maybe someday want to do, so we can plan for what is practical and what is ridiculous and out of the question.

This was a perfect comination of something that needs done, mixed with something that was fun- part of the excitement of having him come was to figure out if we could ever possibly get a fireplace in the living room that could vent out of the existing chimney. He didn’t prove to be too helpful- basically if our chimney was ever used as a fireplace we’d be ok, but if not we’d have to have one built external to the house. Not inexpensive I’m sure. And to figure that out we’d have to – well, take down the wall in the living & dining room to see what lies beneath. Although he said plenty of old Victorian homes had fireplaces walled up, I’m just not that optimistic about the possibilities. Sometimes I like to imagine there’s an ornate fireplace mantle lying just beneath the wall in the dining room, but I usually stop myself somewhere between the daydream and the trip to the garage to get the sledgehammer. Luckily we have enough on our plates at the moment that we’re not likely to tear out walls anytime soon, but the curiosity is compelling. On the other hand I'm certainly not saying that one day we might not lose our minds and try to make a couple of small, strategically placed holes large enough to shine a flashlight through.