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.