Poor, poor Teague. We’re both sick with hacking coughs and runny noses, but that didn’t stop my hardworking guy from getting up on the roof in the freezing rain to do some chimney repair. (Consequently, making himself sicker….)

The chimney is crumbling – especially at the top, where it has lost large chunks and entire bricks. In an effort to get homeowners insurance approval the second time around, we’re trying to clean up the glaring problems on the outside of the house (so maybe they won’t bother to come in!) MetLife noted the chimney on our rejection notice, so this moved to the top of our long list of projects.

Here’s what it looked like before repairs:

Teague took loads of mortar cement (we purchased two 80lb bags) up two ladders, where he mixed it with water (also carried up two ladders) and put new bricks in. Then he wrapped everything with a fiberglass mesh and put a thin layer of cement over it, like so:

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As you can tell by the fading sunlight in the photos, this took him a LONG time. He spread the work over two partial days and has a bit to finish up, but it’s looking much more stable now. Hopefully this is the last of the outdoor repairs this winter. It has been unseasonably warm and snow-free in NY, but I’m pretty sure that’s about to end.