Chimney? Gone!

We reached the bottom of the chimney today.  It was an incredible amount of work, dusty and dirty and physically taxing.  But we're happy - it's so good to get it done.

The chimney, dismantled

Now that the chimney is down, there are still chimney-related tasks to do.  We have to clean out the mortar dust that is now everywhere in the house.  We have to move all the broken bricks and haul them to the dump.  Fortunately, Bill Rayno brought over his dump trailer, so all we have to do is throw the broken bricks in the back of the trailer, and they can be hauled away.

The whole, unbroken bricks have to be hauled over to MLK  Once we get them there, they will be cleaned of mortar, and then used to make the paths that lead from the sidewalk up to the stairs of each apartment.  There are plenty of bricks, so maybe we'll make some brick planters with them as well.

Looking up from the first floor to the hole in the roof

With the chimney gone, the biggest barrier to moving the house is also gone.  We can put cribbing under the house, tear off the cripple walls, and put the house on wheels.

The only thing holding us back is (what else?) permits.  More to come on that topic.