# What to do with my old chimney



## thisoldspouse (Mar 31, 2010)

I have a crappy old chimney in my dining room left over from an old wood stove about a century ago. I don't have the means to take the whole thing down (that'll happen when the new roof goes up) but I'm looking for inexpensive ideas to cover it up or disguise it in any way. Halp!!:confused1:


----------



## Wildie (Jul 23, 2008)

I had a chimney that came down throught the kitchen. It was just a single flue.
I was renovating the kitchen and elected to have it taken down.
It amazing how much space a chimney wastes. I was able to place the refrigerator into the space vacated by the chimney.

I would heartily suggest that you would get rid of the chimney first off, and then you'll have no problem working around it.


----------



## thisoldspouse (Mar 31, 2010)

I'd love to remove it. The problem comes in when I'm left with a big hole in the roof.


----------



## Wildie (Jul 23, 2008)

This Old Spouse said:


> I'd love to remove it. The problem comes in when I'm left with a big hole in the roof.


 $40 fixed the hole in my roof! Just a bit of plywood and a bundle of shingles!


----------



## pyper (Jul 1, 2009)

The hole is easy to fix. I took our chimney down below the roof, but left it in the house. It's covered with sheetrock. Just some furring strips nailed to the mortar.

In the past it was covered with paneling.

You could paint it. Maybe white, and then with some decorative vine like painting on it.


----------



## thisoldspouse (Mar 31, 2010)

Interesting. If I could get it down below the roof, I'd take it down the rest of the way! And frankly, if it hadn't been messed with so much and just the brick left on the face it wouldn't be that big a deal to me. But over the many years it's been stuccoed, painted, wallpapered, etc., and in the meanwhile chunks of stuff have come away. I guess the only solution is to tear it out.

*sigh*


----------



## Blondesense (Sep 23, 2008)

Can you post a pic so we all know exactly what you're dealing with?


----------



## thisoldspouse (Mar 31, 2010)

TOP:









OVERALL:









BOTTOM:









Try to ignore the surrounding chaos.


----------



## Willie T (Jan 29, 2009)

Ouch! That looks like a job and a half to reclaim that one. Yeah, I think I'd throw in the towel too.


----------



## DangerMouse (Jul 17, 2008)

Don't you mean "Throw in the TROWEL?" 
Awww c'mon.... ya gotta love the humor around here.... :laughing:
I can't believe what I see though.... plaster (joint compound?) over wallpaper over *who knows what*....? 
wow.... and I thought I was creative..... :wink:
I have to agree with the guys here though, taking it all the way out is the best bet, and the roof is not that costly to fix back up.
We put in a new furnace at our old home when we re-roofed the whole house, so I had the guys take the old chimney down to below the level of the new roofing, then the wife and I took it down farther so we could open up the 9' peaked attic space. Man, it made a WORLD of difference not having to squeeze around that thing! 

DM


----------



## thisoldspouse (Mar 31, 2010)

I know, I know, taking it all out is the way to go. But it's that roof thing. If only the main floor (photos) looked as good as the second floor, I could see trying to do something creative. Ah, well. I appreciate all the thoughts everybody!


----------



## Wildie (Jul 23, 2008)

Your chimney looks identical to the one that I removed.

You will be so glad to have that monster gone from your life. :thumbsup:

Old chimneys come apart easily. Just a sharp blow on a brick will loosen it.
The biggest problem is getting rid of the brick! Maybe you can use them as edging in a garden?


----------



## DangerMouse (Jul 17, 2008)

What pitch is your roof? Our old place was a 45° angle and very dangerous to work on. I certainly would not blame you for not wanting to do it in that case. This place is sweet, I can lay on the 12/4 pitch very nicely and stargaze. Po)

Hmmm.... I'd grab a 3 gallon bucket of mud and have some fun! :laughing:

DM


----------



## thisoldspouse (Mar 31, 2010)

Our roof is a 12/12, 45º and a bi*ch to work on. And both my husband and I are afraid of heights! Not only that, but trying to piece in the resulting wood flooring, drywall, all that just makes my shoulders sag. :wallbash:


----------



## fabrk8r (Feb 12, 2010)

If you do remove the chimney be prepared for a ton of soot covering everything you own.

My girlfriend helped me remove our chimbley last fall. It was quite messy, but she thought it was fun and a good experience! It actually took us two weekends to remove the entire thing from out 2 story w/walkup attic. I patched the roof with a piece of tin slid under the upper shingles and then used tar. The patch is really temporary since I am planning on re-roofing within the next year or two. There was plaster covering the first and second story section of the chimney. I have about 4 square feet of extra room in the kitchen and also in the second floor bathroom.

I used an air chisel to pop the red bricks apart. It's a fast way to get the bricks loose from the crumbly mortar, but the air makes a real mess of the sand and soot. The bricks from the second floor were just thrown out a window into the back yard. The 1st floor bricks had to be carried out the back door and the bricks from the basement were hauled up the steps and put into a wheel-barrow for transport to the back yard. My girlfriend likes working in the yard on her days off, so she laid most of the bricks flat around our firepit and the rest she used as edging for our plants. She did a great job and the red brick looks great. Most of the remaining mortar has already crumbled off from the winter snow and ice.

Good luck and have fun!


----------



## fabrk8r (Feb 12, 2010)

btw, my roof is 12/12 pitch like yours.


----------



## pyper (Jul 1, 2009)

This Old Spouse said:


> Interesting. If I could get it down below the roof, I'd take it down the rest of the way!


In my case, the mortar had failed in the top part of the chimney. I could just tap the bricks with a hammer and they'd pop loose. As long as I was above the roof line I could heave them into the yard. Once I got below the roof, I had to start hauling them to a gable opening, which was a lot more work, and the mortar got more solid.

I considered removing it entirely, but I wasn't sure how structural it was. I know that portions of it serve as a foundation pier. Also, it was a lot more massive than yours -- about 30" square.

Yours I'd wrap in drywall and be done -- at least until you remove it entirely. Most of ours is in the corner of a walk in closet now.


----------

