Pit-props

Yesterday and today I removed the fireplace from the old lounge. You may remember that my physical (DIY) involvement with this project started with a scaffold tower and removal of an exterior chimney. Well, the chimney served this fireplace :

....and now it has gone :

Round the other side proved a little more interesting. In order to provide a throat for the fire a lintel had been placed across the fireplace opening, and then concrete blocks laid horizontally, increasingly sticking out of the wall to make the shape. As this fireplace is to be bricked up, I had to cut back these blocks so that they are flush with the wall, so they can be plastered over. Unfortunately the middle pair, that stuck out the most, were cut back to virtually nothing. In the end, I chopped holes and inserted some wooden "pit-props" to hold everything up, then took these two courses out all-together :

Rather foolishly, I didn't take a picture before I started. Sorry about that.

Jan and I also spent a little time generally tidying the site of debris, and completing the job of removing some of the plastic sheeting that the scaffolder's only half did. This has exposed some of the building a little more to view, so I will end today's post with a few photos of the build as a whole :

Still quite obscured, but you get the general idea.