Tuesday, March 10, 2015

Historic Fireplaces


When you find yourself needing to determine the status of your historic fireplaces and their chimneys, I have a few recommendations. We, unfortunately, learned a few things the more difficult way, which lingered over the course of several months. 

First and foremost, have someone inspect your chimney that specializes in historic chimneys. You will find that almost all inspectors claim this as their expertise. But we have found that the best resource for a true historic renovation mason comes through a recommendation from a historic renovation contractor. 

Our first inspection was by someone who used a small palm sized mirror to look up the chimney. He owned a chimney lining company, so he was not a specialty mason (there is a very big difference). His recommendation (which came about a week before closing on our house), was to tear the chimneys down and build anew. I just about fainted when I heard this. 

Slowly, over time, I began discussing our unfortunate news with tradesmen who specialize in historic structures and they all, surprisingly, shook their heads proclaiming such advice was pure nonsense. 

This is because old chimneys can be repaired at a fraction of the cost to rebuild, while retaining the historic character that is very difficult to reproduce. 

Planning of historic chimney repairs is aided by such wonderful devices as a chimney camera which can be used to pinpoint the locations that require attention. 


The optical end of the camera is snaked up the chimney to precisely determine where the cracks are and where the missing bricks may be - conditions which can make burning wood quite unsafe. 

This image shows a missing brick. 

Our wonderful specialty mason (seen on the left) is making notes during the chimney scan so that he can determine the repairs needed - especially, the locations of those needed repairs. He works throughout New England on historic homes. 

Today, he began the brick repairs which meant opening up the chimneys in the upstairs bedrooms. The following images are taken on Mike's cell phone so they are a bit fuzzy. 


Here he has removed a brick so that he may see inside the chimney. 


I have to admit that when Mike showed me these pictures, it was a little startling. Eeek! 


When the repairs have been made, which will take just a few days, the chimneys will then be ready to be lined and then be used safely to burn wood. 

The cost of lining a chimney is notable but significantly less than rebuilding. So we'll have to complete this in phases. 

We decided to do the dirty work of the interior brick repairs now so that there will not be such a disturbance when we are finally living in the house. 

Also, I would also like to caution on the lining of your chimney until you know for sure what it's use will be. There are several lining methods. As I've learned, once the chimney is lined and depending what method is used, the diameter of the chimney may be reduced. 

You need a certain amount of flue area to create a draft - larger for wood burning, less for installing gas lines or wood stoves. 

Lining is irreversible, so its important to know the long term use of the chimney before proceeding. 


25 comments:

  1. I'm only on my first cup of Joe, so this may be a stupid question, but in the pic of the chimney in the bedroom, did he cut out the wall there to gain access or was it like this [like I said my brain is still booting and I can not remember how this room looked].
    Do you have any plans to change the wall and leave some of that brick chimney exposed or will it get tucked back into the wall?
    Is there a purpose for what appears to be a huge space to the right of the chimney?

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    1. The paneling was removed and will be put back...Although, while removing it, some rot was discovered from an old roof leak. So it will be put back, although using new materials. As they say, "one thing leads to another!"

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  2. Thank you for this post. Both our fireplaces were built and designed to burn coal which we learned through our inspection. We are able to burn Dura Logs until we convert to wood. I appreciate your knowledge that once a liner is installed it is irreversible. Many thanks for all your tips.

    Holly

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  3. Thank you for posting this useful information! I wouldn't trust anyone to work on a historic home unless he specialized in historic renovation, I'm so glad you found someone to do it right! Love your posts!

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  4. Extremely interesting. Looking forward to seeing pictures of a good blaze! linda r (phila burbs)

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  5. My husband and I had a similar experience with our fireplace in our 101 year old farmhouse. We had an inspector out who did snake a camera up the chimney and showed us that the floor on our second floor was actually touching the chimney brick and some of our mortar was ageing poorly. They rightly told us that it was unsafe to burn. Their solution was to tear it down and rebuild it to the tune of $20,000! Luckily we had a second inspector who ran a thermally lined flue up our chimney. We have enjoyed our wood burning stove so much this winter without having to destroy our old fieldstone chimney.

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  6. Thank you for such detailed accounts! I have a much smaller house, and thankfully the chimneys were in most part in good order. However it was a huge task, one of the biggest projects in the whole renovation.

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  7. This is really interesting. I had no idea chimneys could be repaired to this extent.

    We live in a much newer house, and this fall we tore down the old chimney and fireplace and rebuilt everything. The main reason was that the chimney was unlined and couldn't be lined easily. It had been built to have a wood burning insert (almost like a woodstove), and we wanted a traditional wood-burning open hearth, which required a much bigger chimney. It was a very big job, but the good news is we had a very skilled mason and ended up with exactly what we wanted in the end. You can see the final result and the project progress at https://homeon129acres.wordpress.com/2015/01/12/farmhouse-fieldstone-fireplace/.

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  8. Love this post. It really is fascinating what they can do. So smart to do this dirty work up front. I would have said Eeek too (or something similar;);) xxoj.

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  9. reparar la chimenea puede salvarte de problemas mucho más peligrosos, es bueno tu post, saludos desde España.repair the chimney can save much more dangerous problems, good your post, greetings from Spain.

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  10. I just wish I had a historical fireplace! I love yours, and everything else about your house.

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  11. I've never lived in a home with a fireplace, but your story about your chimney and fireplace is very interesting! I live in Phoenix, Arizona and it rarely gets cold enough to turn on the heat at my condo let alone light a fire in a fireplace!

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  12. This is timely for us - we live in a 1920 bungalow and have been told the chimney isn't safe - can't remember if it was a chimney sweep or who did the inspection.

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  13. Great information. We have a 155 year old home and we have no mantles, only wood burning pot belly stoves but the chimneys have to be cleaned. It's always best to do it before moving in. Old houses require specialty tradesmen.

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  14. So informational for all those who think it's an easy move into an old home, so many inspections need to be done for another safe 100 years.
    Love your your Restoration of this home. I can't wait for complete move in and your beautiful history you add to your new old home.

    I have been creating and posting my latest pieces in Cartapesta, making my pieces feel historic, it's the small touches we can do to keeping things old and beautiful.

    Fondly,

    Xx
    Dore

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  15. I swear they used the same camera in my colonoscopy! But they didn't have to open up any walls on my "upper floor". Although that might explain about my thought process.....MAYBE I'M MISSING SOME BRICKS IN MY BRAIN!

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  16. This post is so helpful, I didn't know so many things about chimney repairs, but I'm planning a makeover for this one in my house this summer.

    Spring cleaners Battersea

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  17. Historic remodeling is not for the faint of heart! I'm curious as to what material will be chosen for your lining. Thanks for the cautionary information.

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    1. Not sure...We're hoping to line it with stainless steel but that may not be possible. The other options will require some more research! Oh my, the research I do in the wee hours of the night...

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  18. Love your posts, such good information. All my best.

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  19. Was your home in Oregon historical? Did you have to go through any of this with that beautiful home? It's great that you have skilled workers in your area that can actually do the job and know what they are doing.
    It's so fun following this process, thank you for sharing.
    Karen

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    1. Our home in Oregon was built in the 1920's, which for that area, felt historic. Our greatest resource in Oregon was the store Rejuvenation, in Portland. And doing a historic renovation of our old house in Oregon, felt a bit more challenging as the resources for historic trades people were not as abundant, or perhaps just harder to find.

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  20. This comment isn't really about this specific post, but to generally thank you for chronicling your renovation journeys. We recently painted our garage floor (finally) with a grey paint and I was able to do a search to find out what color you used for the flooring on your porch in the Farmhouse to use as baseline (perfectly recounted in your resource list, I might add). Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that your older documentation continues to be a great resource. We miss you out west. xo -c

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  21. I second what the others have said: thanks for this informative post! So glad that you were able to preserve your historic fireplace and pinpoint the problem areas.

    My husband and I live in an 1880s home and are in the process of having one of the chimneys rebuilt and the other repointed. We moved into the house recently, and during the inspection we were told that the chimneys were originally constructed for coal burning stoves. We could tell that the previous owners had been using one of the fireplaces to burn wood, even though it's not properly lined. Terrifying! Chimney repair is not a process for the faint of heart!

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Thank you for leaving your thoughts. Kind regards, Catherine