01-05-2011, 04:01 PM
Hi,
During our long winters it is too cold to work in the workshop or garage in comfort and during the short summers property and garden work take over.
My Ekco TV chassis is sitting on the bench pleading with me to restore it but as usual other jobs get in the way. I can’t remember the last Easter where we had such glorious weather and I’ve been making the most of it working flat out around the bungalow.
A few days ago I decided to inspect the roof which is perfect but the chimney looked to need pointing so I made a start chasing the joints out and did the side facing the camera but something was wrong; as I hit the chisel with the hammer the whole chimney wobbled and I could hear something falling down inside the chimney. I was totally surprised and very upset to be able to see right through into the chimney and it was the mortar joints falling into the chimney.
The whole stack was unsafe and no way was I going to bodge this job so I took the chimney down. My plan was to dress the stone and re-use it but the stones were useless as they were fractured and crumbling. As usual a small job now started to grow out of all proportion and I feared for my wallet as Yorkshire stone is very expensive.
[attachment=1076]
Too dangerous to point.
I made a plywood cap to seal the chimney with as a temporary measure and also made a close fitting plug to fit the flue lining to prevent debris falling down inside. Yesterday morning Bron accompanied me whilst I had a drive around trying to locate suitable replacement stone. The chimney measures 18” square and four courses of 6” stone at 4” thick.
[attachment=1077]
It won't fall over now.
We visited a local stone dealer to find it closed. We then visited builder merchants and they had new stone in stock so I went to enquire and was told it is only sold by the square metre at £47 per metre plus VAT with 15 pieces of stone per metre and of course I need 16 stones!! However the guy informed me that concrete stone was much cheaper at £15 per square metre plus VAT but the concrete stone I was looking at was buff coloured so we visited another builders merchants and this time found a perfect match it being Anstone Split Faced Black 450 x 140mm (18” x 6”). I bought 17 pieces for a total £26.76. Inc VAT. I bought a spare just in case because if I didn’t I would most likely end up visiting the merchants again. I loaded 8 pieces of this stone into our Toyota Aygo and leaving Bron at home I returned to collect the remaining 9 pieces. Whilst at the merchants I enquired what mortar mix was recommended for this stone and was told 4 to 1. This stone is dense and heavy.
I had already bought 3 major bags of building sand and 5Ltr of plasticiser from Wickes on Friday costing £10.17 Inc VAT.
First job was to cut the stone to length; the chimney measures 18” square so with the stone being 4” thick I added another 1” for the mortar joint and this gave a cutting length of 13”; I double checked this then checked again as a mistake here would prove frustrating. I used my small hammer and chisel to cut the first piece but it was hard work and tended to chip the stone at the cut so I tried using my lump hammer and this time really hit the chisel; this was done from one edge only and sometimes the stone broke perfectly other times it required a bit of dressing but it didn’t take long to cut all the stone. Trying to cut this stone perfectly to length allowing only a thin mortar joint is asking for trouble so I allowed 1” and this worked well.
[attachment=1078]
Cutting new blocks to length.
I decided to work with a 5 to 1 mix as too strong a mortar mix can damage stone or brickwork and I also added plasticiser into the water. I kept water content as low as possible and this made laying the stone much harder as the mix was crumbly but with patience it worked. Yesterday afternoon I added a new damp proof membrane then laid two layers of stone. This morning I was out at 8am am and laid the final two layers. The mortar joints were cut back slightly behind the face of the stone and once it started to set I went gently over with a soft brush. I also ensured the joints inside the chimney were full and neatly finished flush.
Next job will be to lay capping stones and add a new chimney pot. I feel a lot happier having done the job this way knowing the chimney is now strong and brand new. What has really surprised me is how cheap it actually turned out in the end and I’ve saved a great deal of money doing the job myself. The downside is that I now ache from head to foot and last night I had worked myself to a standstill but I have the satisfaction that the job is done with care without cutting any corners.
[attachment=1079]
Ready for capping pieces and new pot.
I do many jobs like this and Bron and I physically put a new roof onto the bungalow and extension 22 years ago when the insurance company refused to pay out after two ceilings collapsed due to water ingress six weeks after we moved in but that is another story and rest assured we no longer trust insurance companies and have no insurance whatsoever on the building now. I hope this is of interest and explains why I’m always busy.
Kind regards, Col.
During our long winters it is too cold to work in the workshop or garage in comfort and during the short summers property and garden work take over.
My Ekco TV chassis is sitting on the bench pleading with me to restore it but as usual other jobs get in the way. I can’t remember the last Easter where we had such glorious weather and I’ve been making the most of it working flat out around the bungalow.
A few days ago I decided to inspect the roof which is perfect but the chimney looked to need pointing so I made a start chasing the joints out and did the side facing the camera but something was wrong; as I hit the chisel with the hammer the whole chimney wobbled and I could hear something falling down inside the chimney. I was totally surprised and very upset to be able to see right through into the chimney and it was the mortar joints falling into the chimney.
The whole stack was unsafe and no way was I going to bodge this job so I took the chimney down. My plan was to dress the stone and re-use it but the stones were useless as they were fractured and crumbling. As usual a small job now started to grow out of all proportion and I feared for my wallet as Yorkshire stone is very expensive.
[attachment=1076]
Too dangerous to point.
I made a plywood cap to seal the chimney with as a temporary measure and also made a close fitting plug to fit the flue lining to prevent debris falling down inside. Yesterday morning Bron accompanied me whilst I had a drive around trying to locate suitable replacement stone. The chimney measures 18” square and four courses of 6” stone at 4” thick.
[attachment=1077]
It won't fall over now.
We visited a local stone dealer to find it closed. We then visited builder merchants and they had new stone in stock so I went to enquire and was told it is only sold by the square metre at £47 per metre plus VAT with 15 pieces of stone per metre and of course I need 16 stones!! However the guy informed me that concrete stone was much cheaper at £15 per square metre plus VAT but the concrete stone I was looking at was buff coloured so we visited another builders merchants and this time found a perfect match it being Anstone Split Faced Black 450 x 140mm (18” x 6”). I bought 17 pieces for a total £26.76. Inc VAT. I bought a spare just in case because if I didn’t I would most likely end up visiting the merchants again. I loaded 8 pieces of this stone into our Toyota Aygo and leaving Bron at home I returned to collect the remaining 9 pieces. Whilst at the merchants I enquired what mortar mix was recommended for this stone and was told 4 to 1. This stone is dense and heavy.
I had already bought 3 major bags of building sand and 5Ltr of plasticiser from Wickes on Friday costing £10.17 Inc VAT.
First job was to cut the stone to length; the chimney measures 18” square so with the stone being 4” thick I added another 1” for the mortar joint and this gave a cutting length of 13”; I double checked this then checked again as a mistake here would prove frustrating. I used my small hammer and chisel to cut the first piece but it was hard work and tended to chip the stone at the cut so I tried using my lump hammer and this time really hit the chisel; this was done from one edge only and sometimes the stone broke perfectly other times it required a bit of dressing but it didn’t take long to cut all the stone. Trying to cut this stone perfectly to length allowing only a thin mortar joint is asking for trouble so I allowed 1” and this worked well.
[attachment=1078]
Cutting new blocks to length.
I decided to work with a 5 to 1 mix as too strong a mortar mix can damage stone or brickwork and I also added plasticiser into the water. I kept water content as low as possible and this made laying the stone much harder as the mix was crumbly but with patience it worked. Yesterday afternoon I added a new damp proof membrane then laid two layers of stone. This morning I was out at 8am am and laid the final two layers. The mortar joints were cut back slightly behind the face of the stone and once it started to set I went gently over with a soft brush. I also ensured the joints inside the chimney were full and neatly finished flush.
Next job will be to lay capping stones and add a new chimney pot. I feel a lot happier having done the job this way knowing the chimney is now strong and brand new. What has really surprised me is how cheap it actually turned out in the end and I’ve saved a great deal of money doing the job myself. The downside is that I now ache from head to foot and last night I had worked myself to a standstill but I have the satisfaction that the job is done with care without cutting any corners.
[attachment=1079]
Ready for capping pieces and new pot.
I do many jobs like this and Bron and I physically put a new roof onto the bungalow and extension 22 years ago when the insurance company refused to pay out after two ceilings collapsed due to water ingress six weeks after we moved in but that is another story and rest assured we no longer trust insurance companies and have no insurance whatsoever on the building now. I hope this is of interest and explains why I’m always busy.
Kind regards, Col.
