25/10/2025
Have just finished rebuilding a chimney that needed a lot of TLC. The weather had taken its toll over many years. Parts of the flint cottage below date to the 1700's. I had to come to a descision of how much to take down as it really could have spiralled. I saved as many of the original bricks as possible. Then i went to a reclaim yard and got some new to look old . Many people use these now due to dramatic short supply of reclaim bricks. The new to look old are all frost resistant and durable and blend in aesthetically i think. I dry built most of chimney first as there was much cutting, then stacked on scaffold in order to relay in mortar. I decided to put chimney pots and cowls on to make chimney look smarter , stop birds etc getting stuck and weather them better. The original chimney im sure had pots on. I cut cardboard templates to set position of pots as i had to corbel out slate to help support them and close off around them for top haunching. I was happy with how they turned out.
