August 16, 2012
After much discussion with my mother and Alok (if you can call what they do discussing, I generally have to translate their misinterpretations), Alok agreed that he may need to clean off the chimneys that were previously covered in plaster (of course, this led to a disagreement about the number of chimneys vs. the number of places there is exposed brick and what a chimney really is.... this is why I say Alok's derby name should be Point Belaborer)
Anyway, here is exposed brick in the process of being cleaned (you can't see it well, but there is about 6 inches of dust on the ground here). This is one of 7 places that needs this done (7 areas with exposed brick, we only have 3 chimneys...sigh).
Beyond this, Alok is working on his window repair skills. And by window repair, I mean get them so they aren't leaking and actually lock skills. They won't actually be functional. (Functional windows?! Now that would be insanity).
Repairing an apartment window that had about a 4 inch gap
Repaired attic window... let's hope this keeps the bats out
The attic windows are totally repaired... well, except the one that is covered by a trash bag, but that will be soon enough.
My mom and aunt also painted this front window trim white instead of dirty brown. (My phone camera doesn't like to capture window pics without making it dark):
And my mom painted this door bright white instead of the lovely off white color that it was.
In exciting outside of the house news, the siding is moving along pretty quickly! I'd say this is a BIG improvement.
In not so exciting news, we are out of wood.... sigh.... back to Menards.
Jessica
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ReplyDeleteIt was generally agreed that six was a good age to train a boy. A master sweep would have many apprentices, they would start the morning by roaming the streets calling out "Soot -Oh, Sweep" or another cry to let the house-owners know they were around - this would remind the owners of the dangers of un-swept chimneys. When engaged, the master sweep would fix a cloth over the fireplace, and the climbing boy would take off his boots and any excess clothes, then get behind it. The flue would be as tall as the house and twist several times, and its dimensions would be 14in by 9in. He would pull his cap down over his face and hold a large flat brush over his head, and wedge his body diagonally in the flue. Using his back, elbows and knees, he would shimmy up the flue in the manner of a caterpillar and use the brush to dislodge loose soot, which would fall over him and down to the bottom, and a scraper to chip away the solid bits, as a smooth chimney was a safe chimney. Having reached the top he would slide back down at speed back to the floor and the soot pile. It was now his job to bag up the soot and carry it back to the master sweep's cart or yard.
Cre-Away is a chemical treatment used to remove that hazardous level-three creosote we mentioned earlier.
chimney sweep Danvers MA