Victorian Remodel

My Aging "Hippie"

Well it's been just over 18 months since my last post and some projects have been completed and others still remain but on this quiet New Year's Day I thought I'd write about my latest experience with a contractor. In 2012 we worked on two major projects, getting the exterior painted and the chimneys repaired and lined so we could install gas coal baskets (like gas logs but designed to look like coal baskets that were used in the small Victorian fireplaces). The painting went relatively well with the usual glitches but I'll write more about that project in a later post.

In July and August I got a couple of bids from chimney specialists and the second one was not only a little cheaper but he suggested doing the job the way I thought it needed to be done as opposed to the first contractor. In mid-August I paid him a 50% deposit of several thousand dollars to tuck-point one chimney, rebuild the top 12 rows of another one and install copper caps, metal liners and inner hoods over my old cast-iron inserts. After consulting his schedule we agreed to a starting date the first week of September. THAT'S WHEN I MADE MY BIG MISTAKE. I told him the job wasn't a big rush and if a couple of other jobs came along that were a rush he could move me back on the schedule. The next week the liners for my two chimneys were delivered so I was encouraged.

At the end of September, he hadn't made an appearance yet so I called him. I think the first excuse was his battered old truck (which I've seen) was in the shop for four days. The next week when I called he and his son had had the flu for four days. In mid-October, the scaffolding he needed was on the other side a utility trench and he couldn't get to it. The next week his son showed up with the scaffolding and stacked it against the house. After two more weeks I called and by now he wasn't answering or returning my calls. I suggested somewhat forcefully that he just return my deposit and pick up his stuff. Still no response other than late one afternoon his son and a friend showed up and assembled the scaffolding. I explained to my wife I didn't expect to hear from him again - that he would just show up and start to work planning on that taking care of everything. And that's what happened in mid-November. His only comment to me was that he was glad I didn't have a gun in my hand. They worked for two days, got the main chimney tuck-pointed and the other chimney disassembled and started making the copper caps.

Initially I questioned his fabricating the caps but then I got online and realized he was doing my whole job for the cost of what three premade copper caps would cost. And as I observed his and his son's attention to detail I realized they were perfectionists. The only problem was they are first and second generation hippies. As he worked on the caps one day I started talking to him, learned we were the same age, had lived in Denver at the same time, owned a number of Volkswagens and learned to work on them from "How to Keep Your Volkswagen Alive: A Manual of Step-By-Step Procedures for the Compleat Idiot." But he went on to teach classes on VW repair then open his own shop which he eventually sold to become a chimney sweep when he saw an ad claiming you can make $1000 a week. He's been doing that ever since but he never left his hippie ways. He stills show up now and then although with the bad weather I haven't seen him for quite awhile. The week before Christmas I did offer him a $500 advance on the balance if he would get my living room chimney functional in time for Christmas - he acknowledged that might be nice, left an hour later and I haven't seen him since. I know the job will get done but it will be in "my aging hippie's" time and manner. (By the way - the scaffolding and metal break he uses are both rented and have sat idle for weeks. He's actually finished with the scaffolding, just hasn't gotten around to taking it down and returning it to the rental company!)

Den Chimney needed rebuilding

Finally - some progress but not much!

Nicely done copper caps

Very careful about safety and protecting the roof

And there it will probably set until Spring!

Part of the project required drilling through the sides of both fireplaces, 16 and 20 inches for the gas pipe. Aside from the usual little problems that job went well and we actually matched up the pipes well with the existing lines which I had installed 8 years ago when we ran new gas lines in the house. The inserts were removed to be cleaned and put back into working condition since the linkage for the dampers was broken. My son-in-law did a great job fabricating the metal and we found some good knob matches at Lowe's. A sheet metal hood will be built over the old inserts to catch and channel the flue gases up the new lining.

In cleaning the inserts we discovered the fascia of both inserts had been copper covered originally but most of it had flaked off over time. We'll try to let a little of the copper finish shine through to highlight a few spots.