The day started out fairly normal. We fought the alarm, and then remembered that Pili was waiting patiently for her morning walk. We left without breakfast and made a beeline for the Sears Outlet, hoping that the items we picked out yesterday were still there with a hold ticket on them. When we arrived, we were compelled to seek out all of our appliances. We found - get this - a dishwasher, refrigerator, washer, dryer, and range. So, by eleven in the morning, we had wrapped up a major part of designing the kitchen. It's so inspiring to be able to envision the end-product, so that we can see what we're designing in to. Yay appliances!
We made it to the house by 1:00, and Andy started set-up for the chimney work. Our faithful and loyal friend, Dan, came over to help out. Here are a few pic of prep and our progress for the day:
Andy climbing up the chimney with rope in hand to tie-in.
Andy's task was to take the chimney down brick by brick, and drop them through the flue. As the flues were revealed, he'd lower them to Dan and the chimney would shrink.
Dan was manning the main floor. When the bricks fell through the chimney, they'd often get plugged up in the fireplace. Dan would shepherd the bricks into the basement.
Jessica hung out in the basement. In this picture, you can see how the bricks would fall through the chimney in a pile of broken brick and mortar dust. Lot's of dust. She was there to ensure that the bricks were piled up as they came off the top of the chimney and landed in the basement.
By the end of the day, the chimney shrunk into the attic, and Dan and Andy were able to cover the hole in the roof. Tomorrow, we start in on the attic! And yes, the palm tree in the background is the palm tree namesake for the house.
The rest of the chimney, below the roof, is completely unsupported. It's a big, unstable pile of bricks and mortar. A slight movement of the chimney moves the whole house. It's unbelievable that the house made it through the Loma Prieta earthquake without taking down the whole house. We'll have to be careful not to topple it so that the bricks don't go through the ceiling of the main floor, or through the floor into the basement. The good news is that the brick removal happens very quickly.
Wow you guys, I am absolutely inspired!! Congrats on everything!!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Nonoko! We can't wait to host you for a BBQ once the house is in shape. Congrats on your new home, too!
ReplyDeleteOkay, so you gotta explain the chimney thing. Chimneys are bad? Er, this chimney is bad? Why must chimney be defeated?
ReplyDeleteThe chimney must die for several reasons:
ReplyDeletea.) It's a structural nightmare. Our engineer took one look at it and uttered the non-Jewish equivalent of "oy vey." As I mention, it's essentially a large, unreinforced, unstable pile of bricks. If it moves, the whole house moves.
b.) It holds no value in keeping the house in Craftsman Bungalow style. The fireplace has been modified in an awful way, and the placement of it in the house is inconvenient.
c.) Speaking of placement, by removing the chimney/fireplace and the wall that it's in, we'll be opening up the wall that currently separates the dining room and the kitchen. We'll be creating a "great room" of sorts. It'll make our little house look bigger.
Those are the three main reasons! You will just have to come see it one day :)