Chimney Work Day 2

Today Dan and Jeff returned to install the 12" chimney liner that would lead from the 1st floor fireplace to the roof and the damper and flue.  They also secured the gas lines in the 2nd and 3rd floors and capped off the shut off valves for now until I get the gas units installed.  I need to spread out the costs, so I split up the work this way, and I hope to get the 2nd and 3rd floor gas inserts installed in the September timeframe.

Here is the album of pictures from today.

Because there wasn't a lot of in and out - the guys were either on the roof or inside for relatively extended periods of time - I was able to let Elora out, and so she was much less upset with me.  I was also able to work from the 2nd floor without a lot of noise and was on a number of conference calls throughout the day.  (Yesterday, I had to opt out of one call, because of the hammer drill).

The day went really well.  The crew arrived at around 7:45am with the chimney liner and other materials to get the 1st floor fireplace into shape.  Most of the day they were up on the roof getting the liner in place, and then the second part of the day they were cementing in the liner at the bottom and securing the damper/flue from the top.

I also asked Dan to do a few more things with the 2nd and 3rd floor gas lines - such as cap them off, etc. - which he did.  He was joking with me asking if I thought my cat was going to open the lines.  I said I'm more worried about having children over who get curious.  :)

I'm really happy with the results so far and the guys do a great job of washing up after themselves.  It is really dirty work, but they always clean off the doors and floors and are very respectful.

The next step for the first floor will be to hire someone to help me with the tile/stone surround for the fireplace and potentially building a mantle.  I put a description into one company today.  If any of my readers knows of a good person in the Philly area who is strong with both carpentry and tile work, let me know!  That would be my ideal person for this job.

For the 2nd floor, the next step is that I need to choose my gas insert.  I am in between these two styles, but I'm strongly leaning towards the rocks.  What do you guys think?





For the 3rd floor I'm getting a coal basket insert.  There aren't many options for the super small coal burning fireplaces.  Don and I had one in our dining room at the Fitler house, and I liked it, so I think it will be nice in that room.  It just reminds me a bit of Scrooge eating his gruel :)

That's all for now!  This weekend I hope to work on my brick wall as much as I can, although I do have some fun plans for my birthday.  I have brunch with my friend Sherry on Saturday and I'm going to a concert with my friend Bryan on Sunday.

Chimney Work Day 1

I am working from home today and tomorrow while Hearth and Stove is here to work on repairing my front chimney and make it so that I will have 3 working fireplaces at the end of it.  The first floor will be a wood burning fireplace and the 2nd and 3rd floor front rooms will have vented gas units.  Here is the work that Hearth and Stove will be doing over Thursday and Friday:

• Place 3 liners into the front chimney - a large one for the 1st floor wood burning fireplace and 2 smaller ones to lead to the 2nd and 3rd floor gas units.
• Install and damper and flue for the 1st floor fireplace.
• Run gas lines from the basement to the 2nd and 3rd floor fireplaces with shut off valves, etc.
• Patch up anything they have to tear apart for the sake of install.

I was up bright and early to get the pets settled.  Jali went to Ruff Life (day care) for the day and Elora got to spend the day in the 3rd floor bathroom suite.  (She still hasn't forgiven me and peed about 12 times - all outside her very conveniently placed litter box).  

The guys arrived at around 7:30am as I was making coffee and they got to work.  Since we are on design #15 for the approach, we went over the work again, and once I was sure we were all on the same page, I left them to it and went to the 2nd floor office to work.  

So far, I'm really happy with the work.  Today they were able to run the gas lines and the 2 shut off valves.  They also measured the liners they need for the chimneys.  They guys are all great to work with.

I put more descriptions of the work itself in the album of pictures for today.  Some other cool things that happened today:

- When they did a review with me of the shut off valves, they didn't assume I didn't know what I was doing.  In fact they said, "I'm sure you know this from the work you are already doing here, but if the valve is a "T" to the pipe, it is off.", etc.   That means a lot to me.  It is hard to navigate these types of projects alone without people to bounce ideas off of or make sure I'm getting quality work.  I like to be respected.

- I ordered lunch for the guys, which to me was just what you do when you have a big crew working all day at your house.  I don't think this happened often, though, from their reaction.  They were so sweet and thankful!  I don't think I ordered enough though.  Tomorrow I'll get sandwiches.

- I have a neighbor at the end of the block who constantly tells me to let my husband take care of x, y, or z whenever she seems me doing anything manual.  I've told her at least 30 times I don't have a husband.  I'll tell her 30 more times, I'm sure.  I just smile.

Well... more tomorrow!  I'm not eager for the summer to be over.  I love the summer, and I haven't enjoyed near enough of this one.  But I am excited for fires this fall and winter!

Fireplace Design

I didn't get to work on my wall at all this weekend.  Saturday was the Stoltzfus family reunion and Sunday was too hot to allow me to turn off the A/C and work with the fan in the window.  Poor Jali and Elora would have overheated!  (But leaving on the A/C would have meant more dust circulating throughout the house).

So, I spent time working on my design for the wood paneled wall and the fireplace.

In this album it shows what I was able to uncover so far about the wall:
- Behind the wood wall there is a 6" fireplace surround made of what appears to be concrete.
- I was able to pry off the baseboard but there is a part to the wall that is one connected structure, and I'll need a carpenter involved to do this right.
- I found the code as to how much clearance is needed around the fireplace made of non-combustible materials.
- I cut out paper and taped it to the wall to give myself a visual of how much that is and therefore, approximately where the mantel would be built and how much space that would take up.

I then searched online for some examples of how I'd like the look of the fireplace to be.  Here are some examples that I pulled... probably not the final product but it gets to the general look.

1) The surround itself... My original thought was black marble, but I also found this more textured black stone that I think would look really sharp.  My one concern about the textured black stone is that it might clash with the similarly rough look of the brick on the opposite wall.  Then again - the shiny black marble tile may be too much of a contrast.  I need to spend some more time thinking about that.

Here are the samples I pulled:

http://www.homedepot.com/p/MS-International-Glacial-Black-Ledger-Panel-6-in-x-24-in-Natural-Marble-Wall-Tile-10-cases-60-sq-ft-pallet-LPNLMGLABLK624/205960155

http://www.homedepot.com/p/MS-International-Absolute-Black-12-in-x-12-in-Polished-Granite-Wall-Tile-5-sq-ft-case-THDINDBLK1212/202194774

http://www.homedepot.com/p/MS-International-Absolute-Black-3-4-in-x-12-in-Polished-Granite-Pencil-Moulding-Wall-Tile-THDW1-MP-BLA/100664327

2) The mantel... I found this picture online that is pretty close to the look I want (except the wood color would match the rest of the wall).

3) All of this should still allow for the existing sconce wiring to stay, except that I don't really like the sconces that are there now.  I'd like to find something like this to place them with, and they would frame the mantle.

http://www.uttermost.com/p-1009-galeana.aspx

I'm pretty happy with that design, and so now it is just a matter of seeing how it all unfolds and what the cost will be.  The chimney and fireplace people are going to do the work of repairing the front chimney and getting it lined and up to code on 7/30 and 7/31.  The plan is to make the first floor fireplace (the one featured in this post) a wood burning stove with its own liner and flue, etc.  The fireplaces in the two floors above that (in the bedrooms) will be converted to vented gas units.  The unit in the guest bedroom on the 2nd floor will have a gas insert with its own surround.  Something like this:  http://www.valorfireplaces.com/products/legendG35insert.php

The third floor bedroom (my bedroom) will have a coal basket unit.  Something like this (but without all the green and gold in the picture): http://www.gratefires.com/

After that work is done, I will work on getting a person in who can help with the wall work and surround and mantel.  In either case, by the fall, it should be a very "Kendra" room and a nice place to hang out and read or play a game with friends.  I plan to move the couch to the wall that will have the exposed brick and the chair to the little nook that is right around the corner to the left after coming in the front door.  I'll probably have a rug in the middle of the room, and possibly a table if I can find one of the proper size not to interfere with walking from the front door through to the rest of the house.  

Half Stripped and Other Dilemmas

This weekend I made good progress on the brick wall exposure.  I worked on it around 4 hours each of the weekend days - basically, until I could no longer open my hands anymore!

Here is how is looks as of now:

The wire brush step that comes after this one will scrub off most of the remaining mortar residue to give it a more clean look. Even so, the wall is far from perfect.  It bulges a little in places, it is multiple colors, and it has chips - some caused by my crow bar before I reverted 95% to the chisel and hammer method and some preexisting.  All of this just makes me like it more.  There is something very bold, refreshing, and honest about exposed brick, particularly in old buildings.  It wasn't laid with the assumption it would be visible in the future.  It shows the true nature of how it was fashioned and how it changed with age.

I like being able to view it as I come down the stairs from the second floor.  I can already start to picture how it will transform that room.

Another thing that will transform the room is the wood burning fireplace that I'm planning.  The Hearth and Stove people came again last Thursday to provide another estimate.  What I'm planning is for a wood burning fireplace in the first floor and then vented gas units in each of the two bedrooms above it.  There is a second chimney in the house with 2 fireplaces, but I am not planning to do work on those for now.  That chimney was torn down and would be even more expensive to restore.  The problem with my plan is that the previous owners installed wood paneling all around the fireplace and a TV above it.  A few things:
1) The wood and crown molding is very nice, but not really me, and I think it fights with the exposed brick wall I'm making for focal point status.  I do like the bookcases - just not the middle part, and I'm curious as to what is behind there.
2) I took down the TV to do my wall project but there is a bunch of wiring installed behind the paneling for easy hook up of a variety of things.  Tim is coming on Thursday.  We'll celebrate his birthday with dinner and then I'll ask him to look at the A/V install and give some advice on how we could move that.  I'm thinking a small TV in the kitchen where I could watch morning news or evening news while making meals would be better.
3) Per code, I'll need about a foot of clearance around the fireplace opening.

I'm hoping some of the space behind the panels is hollow.  I can build a wood storage area and space for games storage if so.

Any ideas are welcome!

Here is a picture of the wall I am referring to and a close up of the fireplace.  I really like the iron panels in there.

Here is a link to the whole album from the weekend:  Wall Progress 2015.07.11 - 12 & Fireplace Project

Wall Progress over the 4th of July

As of this evening, I'd estimate I'm about 1/4 of the way complete with getting the plaster off the brick.  Chances are that I just repressed past memories of this task, but this seems a lot more slow going than when I did it before.  I attribute this to two things (in addition to probably repression).  1) Only the bottom part of the wall seems to have the proper base code + top coat that actually came away pretty easily.  The rest of the wall so far is horse hair plaster - no lath - that is seriously stuck on there.  2)  The brick isn't in amazing shape, and I don't want to further damage it with a bunch of sledge hammer whacks.  So, most of what I've gotten off so far has been chisel and hammer work.  All in all, very meticulous and slow.

One the plaster is all removed, I'll have several more steps:

• Scrubbing the wall several times with wire brushes (should be the last very messy and dusty step).
• Repairing cracks and missing mortar.
• Sponging the wall several times.
• Sealing the wall.

The good news is that the dust containment system continues to work well, and so I think even if the project takes me quite a while to do, I won't have to live with dust all over the house.  The plaster stripping tasks will likely have to be restricted to weekend afternoons, since it is very noisy, and neighbors share that wall.  The other steps aren't very noisy, so I can work on those after work, if need be.

I've also been making a concerted effort to keep all of my tools and my work area clean each day - even if that means stopping a little earlier so I have time to thoroughly sweep up everything, take the bags of plaster out back, and vacuum with the shop vac.  I wash all of my work clothes - including my sneakers - each time, and I clean my glasses and respirator each night.  I'm hoping that these things and keeping my projects small will allow me to handle things without getting overwhelmed with dust or the feeling of being too much in construction.

Here is the progress on 7/4 and 7/5 from this weekend.  I'll pick this up again next weekend!

Progress on 7/4 and 7/5

Operation "Make This My Home"

I bought this house in November, 2014.

Before Pictures of House

It is an incredibly charming 3.5 story house + basement in Old City.  It was built in 1894, which is 4 years later than the house Don and I had in Fitler's Square.  Unlike that neighborhood in the late 1800's, though, this one was on the seedier side at the time.  There were pawn shops about a block away, and the houses were very small without plumbing.  (If you've been in my house, the entire 1/3 of the house in the back where my kitchen is and the 2 bathrooms were not originally part of the house).  The house has 2 chimneys and 5 fireplaces.  I have it on my list of projects to make at least 3 of them functioning again - one wood burning and 2 gas.  It didn't need any work when I moved in, but there were elements that just weren't very me - particularly on the first floor.  So, now that I've had a few years away from dust and house projects, I've decided to start again on operation "Make This My Home."

My first project that I'm tackling is among the most messy... I'm going to expose a brick wall in my first floor sitting room area by removing the plaster.

Chapter 1: Back to Home Depot (a.k.a. I have no tools anymore!)
When I moved out of the Fitler's Square house, I thought Don and I did a very fair job of splitting things up and he certainly allowed me to come back multiple times for things I had forgotten.  However, I definitely didn't take that many tools at all!  I didn't even have a respectable hammer, and I am pretty sure I took my pink tool belt at least, but I can't locate that either. :(

So, on Thursday, I placed an online order for store pickup at Home Depot to get everything I thought I'd need for my wall exposure project.

Here is the haul (although the shop vac is borrowed from a friend):

(By the way, I love in store pickup.  It saved me several hours, and I didn't spend time aimlessly wandering the aisles looking for obscure items on my list and buying another 30 pack of paper towels that I thought I needed).

Most of today was spent in getting my tools and prepping my area.  This part took approximately 5 hours.  First, I had to move everything from the room to the basement.  Then, I also had to move the A/V equipment, including my internet modem and my Xbox (source to watch Game of Thrones) to the third floor TV.  Let me take a moment to pat myself on the back.  I am not gifted in the area of audio visual.  Thankfully, Tim is my friend, and he generally takes care of those needs for me.  However, he lives about 45 minutes away.  I'm very pleased to report that I managed to get it all hooked up myself!!!  I have internet, XBox, Cable, and Wireless.  This alone was a huge enough accomplishment to me to just call it a day... but I didn't.

Now to getting the work area ready.  The worst part of home improvement is the dust.  I purchased the zip pole system and a fan for the window and enough plastic to wrap the world in to keep the dust out of the rest of the house.  It actually worked really well!  

I spent three hours chipping away at the plaster.  In the end I had about a 3 foot by 3 foot area completed.  My hands are not in crow bar shape yet, but they will get there.  It feels good to be using my arms more again.

Here is my album of the progress so far today.  I'm trying to get as much done this weekend as I can, because it appears my neighbors who share that wall are away for the holiday.  We'll see how much is possible.  Plaster removal can be slow going.  It kind of parallels any struggle in life.  Sometimes you give it a solid whack with a crow bar and the wall doesn't budge.  Sometimes you take a tiny chisel and an eight inch square section falls off.  This is very Zen work.

Project Pictures