| Early June
I hated the shape of the "repaired" fireplace -- the
original, as mentioned before, was tapered up toward the
ceiling.
Here, after knocking out the old block, brick and mortar, I worked with
some strips of wire lath to determine the new shape of the fireplace, which
follows roughly the original shape as seen in the plaster to the right of
the chimney.
The old curve was "rough", so I imparted an improved
curve. |
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| To the left of the chimney, where the once and future stairs
were located, you can see how the wall broke and separated to contribute
to the wall failure on the north side. This will need to be tied
back and pointed "real soon now". |
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| This shot is scary. Really scary.
Note the blackened joist that once abutted the old chimney (since
replaced some 15 years ago). That thing burned! It must have
caught fire from embers/heat from failed brick joints.
How close the house came to burning down we may never know. |
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| Here Mr. Brown sets to work rebuilding the chimney. He
had a break working with Wally (the plasterer), so he pitched in on this
job.
Mr. Brown has been around a few years and has many, many skills.
The one I'm most impressed with is that he never, never stops
working. If there is a gap in the work load, he goes looking for
something that needs doing.
This time it was helping me with the chimney. He's a good mason,
among many other things. |
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| A few pictures ago you can see the wire lath shape I
established as the "target" for the shape of the chimney.
I measured this every five inches going up from the base.
Then I transferred the measurements to two plywood templates, one for
the front, and one for the sides. I cut these out and mounted them
on wood strips to use as references as Mr. Brown and I worked the brick up
towards the ceiling. This way we had a simple reference to make sure
the result would be symmetrical. |
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| July 2000
Yet another project -- making panels for the door casing between the
kitchen in the wing. I decided to make raised panels that match the
style of the house, especially the doors.
On the right I had to lay up poplar to get 12-1/2" wide panels,
which I then planed down to half-inch thick. Then I used a power
planer to rabbit the edges of the panel.
Frames were built for the panels (below), which then were fit to the
door opening (below right).
Again, nothing square, all custom fitted.
Next, steps needed to be built.
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| While this is going on, "Rambo" Larry of Cross Electric races to beat the inspection deadline before close-in. |
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| Now the BIG project: designing and building new
stairs. Click here for the Stairs big
job!
Click "Next" for the final push to completion of the wing.
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