So THAT explains why Santa didn't visit...
Posted: 08 Aug 2005, 15:34
I noticed some new and growing water stains on the ceiling/walls of my 100+ year old house. Seemed to be a problem with the chimneys. So called in some roofers to put some new flashing around the chimneys, and...
Whee! The chimneys are rotten! Only thing holding the bricks in place is imagination, a touch of gravity, and maybe some luck. Okay. So we determine that the middle chimney actually serves no purpose (once upon a time there was a stove in what is now the middle bedroom) other than providing nesting space for a squirrel. So that chimney is now gone.
The front chimney, the biggest of the two, also appears to serve no purpose - because whoever had closed off the fireplaces (one in the living room and another in the front bedroom) evidently forgot that the furnace and water heater in the cellar vented into that same chimney. IOW, the furnace and water heater have NO vents (that is, they are pretty much venting right back into the cellar). I don't know how critical a vent is in this situation; evidently not very, as I've been here 3 years now and have never noticed any fumes (except for that time the cellar got flooded with sewage, but that's another story).
Anyway, the roofers put new flashing on the front chimney, which will do for now; they are reluctant to remove it just in case it actually is in some undetectable manner serving as a vent. In the meantime, I guess it's finally time to see about replacing that old gas furnace (formerly a coal furnace) with a newer unit, which is something I've been meaning to do anyway, cuz that old furnace is not particularly efficient (I figure a new one will pay for itself in a couple of years).
Oh yeah, heh, the roofers said whoever roofed this house previously should be ashamed of themselves.
Ah, the joys of owning one's own home.
TD
Whee! The chimneys are rotten! Only thing holding the bricks in place is imagination, a touch of gravity, and maybe some luck. Okay. So we determine that the middle chimney actually serves no purpose (once upon a time there was a stove in what is now the middle bedroom) other than providing nesting space for a squirrel. So that chimney is now gone.
The front chimney, the biggest of the two, also appears to serve no purpose - because whoever had closed off the fireplaces (one in the living room and another in the front bedroom) evidently forgot that the furnace and water heater in the cellar vented into that same chimney. IOW, the furnace and water heater have NO vents (that is, they are pretty much venting right back into the cellar). I don't know how critical a vent is in this situation; evidently not very, as I've been here 3 years now and have never noticed any fumes (except for that time the cellar got flooded with sewage, but that's another story).
Anyway, the roofers put new flashing on the front chimney, which will do for now; they are reluctant to remove it just in case it actually is in some undetectable manner serving as a vent. In the meantime, I guess it's finally time to see about replacing that old gas furnace (formerly a coal furnace) with a newer unit, which is something I've been meaning to do anyway, cuz that old furnace is not particularly efficient (I figure a new one will pay for itself in a couple of years).
Oh yeah, heh, the roofers said whoever roofed this house previously should be ashamed of themselves.
Ah, the joys of owning one's own home.
TD