Skylight is in.

September 11, 2007 (6:25am)

48º F, Light Rain, SSE Wind, 3 mph.

Good morning,

We have a skylight in the gathering room - well .... really a rain drip. The woodstove and chimney are out! The rain wasn’t supposed to get here until this afternoon, so thought it was safe to pull things apart. Fortunately it is a rather light rain and looks on the radar it will end before too long. I hope!

The removal of the chimney was interesting. At some point in time, it apparently had been blown/knocked at least partly over. The metal stack had been bent, leaving a kink in it, even though it was standing more or less vertical. In the process, the flue opening was about ⅔ of what it should be and the chimney was an oval shape from the kink, about a foot above the roof, down. The top two sections I was able to twist, unlock, and remove, but the bottom section refused to budge. I finally got the reciprocating saw (t sure has earned it’s keep) out and cut off the chimney at just below the kink. Unbeknownst to me, that put a flood of rock-wool and dust into the gathering room! Not a good thing. Margriet didn’t say anything to me, so I didn’t know it until I got off of the roof and saw the pile on the floor. It got cleaned up in a hurry, but there was some more to come - not too much.

The older stainless steel chimneys have two walls about an inch apart with the space between filled with rock-wool. The new chimney has three walls - the inner ½” space filled with rock-wool, and the outer 1" space is filled with moving air. Much more efficient and safer than the old style. Much lighter too even though they are bigger in diameter, 7" as opposed to 9" in diameter.

With the chimney down to the roof line, more or less, I was able to get at the screws holding the whole works in place. Tried to cut them off with the saw, but the pole building screws used were hardened and tore up the saw blade. Finally was able to get a wrecking bar in with enough leverage to just tear the screws out of the wood. Finally the whole works came out and left an unsightly hole in the ceiling/roof. Then cleaned up the mess, at least most, I had made.

I need to re-manufacture a wooden sleeve to accept the new support box. The old sleeve was something of a wonder - wonder what the guy who put it in was thinking. Parts were held together with small nails, some with 6" ring shank nails, and one 8" pole barn screw! Nice mix. Once the box is in, then I can put on the first section of chimney, probably cutting the roof hole larger too, and the storm collar. That should keep most of the wet out, if I put a bucket or some such over the flue opening.

When I took the woodstove out, I discovered the flue had rusted off at the stove. There was nothing holding it in place, other than gravity. Would have caused some real damage if the flue had come off too and a real fire hazard. Needless to say, that will change. On the little stove I finally found a finally found a place of manufacture - Denmark! Didn’t expect that. Doing some searching on the web, I think it is made by MORSØ ( [no space between the "/" and the first "2B"] http://www.morsoe.com/us/Products/Stoves/ 2B+Standard/2B+Standard/Morsø+2B+Standard.htm ), but an older model than on the website as it doesn’t have the window in the door or the insulation on the smoke shelf. The exterior is “porcelain” rather than blacked. The website indicates that the stove should be cleaned with distilled water and brown soap. I understand the distilled water, but what the heck is brown soap? Anywho, the stove is sitting in the woodshed lean-to of the Hobbit Hus for the moment.

I got my sawhorses back! We also did put the pieces of Dad’s file cabinet under Margriet’s desk. We moved it a foot to allow for the old water supply pipe as the sawhorse would go around it, but the file cabinet will not. The desk is also a couple of inches lower, making it some better for Margriet to use too. Now she has something of a mess to clean up from all of the “stuff” being moved.

I hung the fancy brass oil lamps up on either side of the arch in the gathering room. Only problem is, the lamp oil is still in Kewaunee. Have to bring it up next time, then we will be ready for a power outage, along with the kerosene lamp and lantern already at the ready. They look kind of nice where they are, even if I do say so myself.

Time to get a-going.

In Christ My Saviour,

Chris <><