# Another home improvement thread. Masons. **URL:** \ **Category:** PittSpeed Off Topic\ **Created:** [June 7, 2007, 3:25pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/another-home-improvement-thread-masons/190388 "2007-06-07T15:25:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![1st\_v-dub](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/1/ee7513/32.png) [@1st\_v-dub](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/1st_v-dub)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2007, 3:25pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/another-home-improvement-thread-masons/190388/1 "2007-06-07T15:25:42Z")
My wife and I are looking for a mason to tear down and rebuild about 10 courses of a chimney (and do everything involved like replace the water cap thing on top, point the rest of the chimney, maybe reseal the flashing) and help us turn our fireplace back into a working wood one by laying some firebrick and rebuilding the firebox. If anyone on here is a mason or knows anyone in the south hills, let me know. We are awaiting a quote from mariany & richards, and some R&R guy from Brentwood. Location is Brentwood. Roof is slate. Chimney is high. We will be doing as much of the demo as we can. I can post pics of it’s current state and what we want it to look like when completed if it will help. Thanks! chris ---
**Author:** ![tom\_vito](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/tom_vito/32/6000_2.png) [@tom\_vito](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/tom_vito)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2007, 4:40pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/another-home-improvement-thread-masons/190388/2 "2007-06-07T16:40:59Z")
Pictures are always a help… ---
**Author:** ![The1SloR\_T](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/the1slor_t/32/5984_2.png) [@The1SloR\_T](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/The1SloR_T)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2007, 5:24pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/another-home-improvement-thread-masons/190388/3 "2007-06-07T17:24:20Z")
theres a guy my family knows that lives in brentwood, does good work at everything. put a nice roof over our deck and fixed our chimney. his name is Tim Fornear (sp) 412-401-6251 cell ---
**Author:** ![1st\_v-dub](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/1/ee7513/32.png) [@1st\_v-dub](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/1st_v-dub)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2007, 5:46am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/another-home-improvement-thread-masons/190388/4 "2007-06-08T05:46:50Z")
Here is a picture of what we have to work with. ![http://www.pittspeed.com/uploaded/IMG_1072.jpg](http://www.pittspeed.com/uploaded/IMG_1072.jpg) We plan on some natural stone like marble for the hearth and part of the surround. The rest of the surround and mantle will be an old school wood one. Hopefully that will make sense. We would be doing some more demo to enlarge the firebox some, especially deep as it’s only like 20" deep. So we are really looking for someone to lay firebrick in the box, and we also need a damper installed. The chimney is a chimney, just pretty high because of the grade of the yard. ---
**Author:** ![tom\_vito](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/tom_vito/32/6000_2.png) [@tom\_vito](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/tom_vito)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2007, 3:47pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/another-home-improvement-thread-masons/190388/5 "2007-06-08T15:47:09Z")
> [@1st v-dub"](#): > > Here is a picture of what we have to work with. > > We plan on some natural stone like marble for the hearth and part of the surround. The rest of the surround and mantle will be an old school wood one. Hopefully that will make sense. We would be doing some more demo to enlarge the firebox some, especially deep as it’s only like 20" deep. So we are really looking for someone to lay firebrick in the box, and we also need a damper installed. > > The chimney is a chimney, just pretty high because of the grade of the yard. Dumb question, But as you increase the size of the firebox, wont you have to increase the size of the chimney also to get or keep proper draw? ---
**Author:** ![1st\_v-dub](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/1/ee7513/32.png) [@1st\_v-dub](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/1st_v-dub)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2007, 6:05pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/another-home-improvement-thread-masons/190388/6 "2007-06-08T18:05:14Z")
> [@Some Serious Balls Right Here](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/some-serious-balls-right-here/30634/8): > > Dumb question, But as you increase the size of the firebox, wont you have to increase the size of the chimney also to get or keep proper draw? the people that we have talked to didn’t say anything about that. I guess we really wouldn’t be increasing the size that much, just enough to put the fire brick in and not make the box any smaller. The brick in the back, the green part, is really just like a facade. It’s only about an inch thick. ---
**Author:** ![tom\_vito](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/tom_vito/32/6000_2.png) [@tom\_vito](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/tom_vito)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2007, 7:20am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/another-home-improvement-thread-masons/190388/7 "2007-06-10T07:20:11Z")
I know, from the couple of chimneys I helped with last summer, the sizing seems to be more important than most people think. It might be some good questions when “interviewing” prospective masons… ---
**Author:** ![1st\_v-dub](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/1/ee7513/32.png) [@1st\_v-dub](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/1st_v-dub)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2007, 5:43pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/another-home-improvement-thread-masons/190388/8 "2007-06-10T17:43:34Z")
> [@Custom Radiator cores?](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/custom-radiator-cores/30666/5): > > I know, from the couple of chimneys I helped with last summer, the sizing seems to be more important than most people think. It might be some good questions when “interviewing” prospective masons… awesome tip! thanks for the help! I really don’t know much about masonary or fire place stuff and that is one thing that we didn’t think to ask.