chim, chim, cheroo

Despite the illusions of grandeur this project seems to be taking on (!!!??!!), we really wanted to keep as much of the original character of the lower level of our house as possible. Moving the heating and hot water systems to an outside wall meant our old chimney was exposed and in a prime part of the house to highlight. Of course it's still in use, as we have a wood burning fireplace up stairs, but downstairs we declined the offer to cover it up, or even to paint it. The pinky, reddy, grey-y bricks are attractive, and go well with the sage green walls and white trim and dark oak floor.

But it wasn't pristine. For one thing the mortar in various parts had turned to sand and was escaping (much like our bank balance of late!), and the hole that had presumably allowed the original oil furnace to be attached to the flue had once upon a time been patched with bricks of a different hue. There was also cement patching that covered the top part, and there was another hole on the side where our previous furnace had been attached.

That hole isn't a problem , as it will be covered with a cabinet (yet to be installed) but the rest of it was not as attractive or as safe as it needed to be.

George to the rescue! Once bricks that vaguely matched the colour had been sourced (no small feat and on that took a long time and many rejected possibles) George slowly and carefully cleaned and repatched and remortared it until it now looks as good as an 80 year old workaday chimney can look.