Reuse is an important piece in our sustainable rehab puzzle. It starts with the reuse of an existing building structure, i.e. the two flat we bought. Although we have a lot of work turning it into an energy efficient building, we value the embedded energy and resources in the structure. But we need to protect it if we want to reap the benefits of that energy and resources for years to come.
While researching insulation option, I came across some very interesting moisture management facts that apply to our common brick masonry shell. A sense of urgency began to grow – rapidly! We realized that we need to fix all obvious points of water entry in the brick walls prior to winter – and winter has begun knocking at the door.
In general, our brick walls are in good shape. The problem areas are limited to the parapet and chimney. Let’s start with the chimney:
As you can see, points of entry for water are abundant. At the bottom, towards the waterproofing, these points could be described as wide open gateways:
Water has been getting into the masonry structure for a number of years – a number of winters. The freeze-thaw damage and subsequent disintegration of the masonry has not only amplified the water entry problem but made the whole chimney rather unsafe.
Don’t lean against it, or I will need to pick you and the chimney up in the yard. (You know what? You may not even need to lean against it…)
The thing has to come down, very quickly, but on my terms and in a controlled way – and not by me or somebody else sneezing while standing next to it.
Do we need to rebuild the chimney? Any furnaces or boilers we consider are high efficiency, direct vent models. So the answer is no. No rebuilding, just have to take it down.
Tags: deconstruction, existing housing stock, masonry, reuse