Removing Chimney and Wallpaper | Jon-Michael Deldin: Software Developer from Seattle, Washington

We managed to remove three stories of chimney, a facade chimney, and way too much wallpaper and wallboard. In photos:

Chimney Removal

Armed with a small sledgehammer, we started at the top. The roofers removed the chimney to the roof line, so it was a bit easier. After removing the wood paneling, we had easy access to the fire hazard of a former chimney. I removed bricks while Nathan shuttled them to the window and tossed them down, where Ron and Ethan loaded them into our rented trailer. Repeat.

Upstairs chimney — Removing the upstairs chimney.

Bricks tossed onto a tarp — Tossing bricks out the window.

Inside of chimney — Hoping we wouldn’t find Santa or a cat down here.

Upstairs chimney mostly removed — The bricks popped off so easily, often without whacking them.

Looking down into the kitchen — Made my way down into the kitchen.

It turned out the dining room chimney was a big fat phony, so we had two chimneys to remove. Given the linoleum and wall paneling was attached to this chimney, it almost makes sense now.

Portal to the dining room — We can see into the dining room now.

Kitchen chimney progress — So much creosote.

Charbroiled rat — Thankfully, I did not find a large dead mammal, but I did find a charbroiled rat.

No more kitchen chimney — Made a giant mess, but the chimney is gone in the kitchen.

Chimney stud — Deleted the chimney down to the concrete pillar it was atop of.

No more chimney! (Shot from basement to the upstairs.)

Moscow brick — Probably Moscow, ID, brick.

Chimney selfie — Since Cat was at work, I sent her a picture of my ash.

Winston's lip curl — Winston and Shep spent most of today in jail.

Facade Chimney

With the real chimney out of the way, we tore apart the considerably more difficult facade chimney. I don’t know why you would build a useless chimney, but they built it with much better mortar and brick than the real one. I posted an ad on Craigslist and had some strange man pick up some of our red brick (picky bastard), so at least we didn’t have to trash it all.

Facade chimney after destroying it — And after.

New hallway into kitchen — Our new entry/gaping hole into the kitchen and basement.

Paneling and Boards

We also removed a bunch of wallpaper and paneling:

No wallboard in office — No more paneling in the office.

RUN, inscribed in the wallpaper — RUN. Way to bury the lede. We found this under a few layers of wallpaper.

Conclusion

Photo of dining room sans wallpaper — Our very open dining room.