We finished up the stonework for highcountryrenovators,com yesterday; the owners said it looked fabulous, and their designer was amazed at how well we matched the style of the original masons. After capping off the wall the final challenge was to weave together the two different surfaces of the original patios and to slope the stones so that the water flows towards the arches. Unfortunately, I neglected to get a picture of the grouted and cleaned patio.
Then today we started on a chimney repair in Seven Devils. This chimney is over 30 feet tall, so one of the major challenges is to build a safe and secure scaffold and to get materials up and down.
When building a scaffold this tall, it is very important to have a solid foundation. We use cinder blocks dug into the hillside and leveled.
The orange arm at the top has a pulley with a rope so the ground man can haul materials up and down. Also, notice the scaffold is attached to the house and lashed to the chimney itself.
This chimney had major issues due to an almost nonexistent cap. Water got behind the stones and froze, causing a large section to pull away and some stones to fall to the ground. The owner was very concerned about safety and theliability, as this cabin is in a rental program.
Notice the patch at the top where the stones have fallen, and the area to the left has pulled away an inch or more.
My solution for this situation is remove all the loose stones and old cap. Then I pour a new, steel reinforced 3" thick overhanging cap. This ensures that no water can get behind the stones. Then we reattach the stones using "Stonehold", and acrylic fortified type S mortar.
The only positive here was the ease of demolition. We just tapped the rocks and they fell away in big sections.
Coming soon: we pour the cap and reattach the stones!
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