Removal of chimney stack and breast.
Monday was the first day of work on Grandma and Grandads house.
In the morning we went to a local roofing place, and ordered a roof vent and bought some anglia plus tiles, which we hoped were the right ones to patch up the hole in their roof.
Shortly afterwards, we loaded up the trailer and were off to Bury, a 25 minute drive from our home in Denton. After unloading, we got to work right away and started demolishing the chimney. From the ground, the chimney didn’t look too high, but when I stood on the ridge tile it was still taller than me (ok, that doesn’t mean much as I am only 5ft7 short) but still it was a big chimney.
Sending 3 bricks a time down in a bucket, we managed to get the chimney down to below roof height, and then patched the hole in the roof up with new felt, laths and tiles.
Tuesday came, and we entered the loft and started to demolish the chimney stack and top of the breast. After hiring a 10kg breaker from HSS we made mincemeat of the rest of the chimney breast and got it down the floor level by tea time.
Wednesday was a much slower day than we expected. We went to B&Q to buy some plasterboard, plaster and all the electrical fittings, but it took much longer than we expected. We spent the rest of the day rewiring the kitchen, which included me spending over an hour shuffling about in the 14 inch gap underneath the floorboards, poking wires through holes and connecting up connector blocks.
On Thursday we put the plasterboard on the walls. I have never drylined much before, and so it was somewhat experimental. It went very well, and when it was time to go we had a nice flat plasterboard surface drying.
We had ordered a skip for the morning, and the driver over the phone reckoned he could get it on the drive. I didn’t, so it was no surprise to see a skip on the road when we arrived. 2 hours later we had all 4 sq yards of it full, and we had it picked up later that day.
Friday morning was spent at the dentist, and as I had lost my HC2 or whatever certificate I had to pay for it. In the afternoon we headed off for Grandma and Grandads and plastered the walls. I have done a fair bit of patching up plaster, but never done a whole large wall. For a first time attempt, I recon it was a decent job. We connected up all the electrical sockets and cooker, and restored Grandma’s kitchen to normality.
There are still a few bits and bobs that need doing, like some floor leveling compound where the hearth was (too thin for cement) and the roof vent tile needs installing (still waiting for it to arrive at the roofing supplier), but on the whole the job of removing the chimney breast is complete. I am happy but very tired.
