This is actually a project that comes up in the middle of another project. We're in the midst of stripping and replacing the roof of this home, and it seemed the ideal time to take care of another item: the home's unique triangular chimney, which is beginning to show its age. The mortar between the bricks is starting to crumble, some of the bricks themselves have seen better days, and there may also be some leaks involved in the chimney area. So we're going to tear down the old chimney and replace it with a new construction. Of course, a unique feature like this is too good to pass up, so the new one will be triangular as well. The first step in the teardown is pretty elementary: taking apart the cap. This is accomplished the old fashioned way: we (carefully) break it apart with a hammer, and safely carry the debris away from the roof as we go along.

We're almost halfway through the teardown now. Unlike a square construction chimney, the large triangular design doesn't allow the surrounding brick structure to simply surround the flue up close like a glove; inevitably, there has to be a gap between the flue and the brick structure. As we can see, the original construction of this chimney solved the space problem by throwing in loose pieces of rubble of varying sizes. We'll be neater about it on the way back up. For now, we're still carefully removing the bricks and other debris piece by piece. In some constructions, bricks found to be in good repair are salvaged for use in the new structure; in others, they are discarded in favor of completely new materials or recycled into landscaping borders, etc.

Teardown of the old structure is finished; now construction of the new chimney can begin. Before the courses of shingles for the new roof covering reach the chimney, we start by putting up the first course of bricks as well as a custom-formed metal piece called the flashing, which forms the joint between the chimney and the roof and serves as the first seal of the chimney area. Where the metal follows the slope of the roof, the shingles will be put into place directly above, providing a more seamless look and more importantly creating another layer over the flashing. The flashing itself will later be covered with a special sealant to help prevent leaks. You may also see that the old flue has been replaced with a new piece, as well.

The new construction is coming along nicely. New bricks have been put into place to create a new chimney structure, and we have been a little neater in our choice of "ballast" for the new chimney: we're using relatively uniform gravel to fill the empty spaces. This assures that the entire space will be filled with as few gaps as possible, and that new gaps won't be created as the "ballast" settles. With the brick structure up and the gravel packed in, wooden forms are set up around the top of the chimney for the creation of a custom concrete chimney cap. (You didn't think we just went to the store and bought a giant triangular slab, did you?)

Is that a chimney, or something from Star Wars? Actually, we've poured the chimney cap and smoothed off the top of it by hand (or to be more precise, by trowel), leaving the upper portion of the flue still exposed. The wooden forms we placed earlier will assure that the new cap can set properly and in the correct shape. Now we just have to wait...

Once the chimney cap has set, the final touches are applied. The flashing area is sealed with two coats of mastic, with a binding mesh in between. We've also covered the rest of the structure with a special clear masonry sealer. (The chimney area won't be leaking anytime soon.) We've topped off the flue with a steel cover. The open mesh of the cover allows the chimney to do its job properly, while at the same time keep out airborne debris such as leaves, etc., and just as importantly, keeping rodents and birds from coming in, as well. Our chimney rebuild is now complete, and once again the home is serviced by a stylish triangular chimney which will last for many years to come.