Mantle

  The mantle is up and a few stones of the upper section. Dan is bringing the indoor crane he had build specifically for this project, as the beam and chain-fall will take us no higher.

The Last Lintel

We finally put up the last lintel yesterday, after much measuring, hoisting up and down, and notching out the right-hand jam stone. The notching was particularly tedious because it had to be done with a grinder, instead of a rock saw, which would have filled the entire house with dust and carbon-monoxide and incurred the wrath of carpenters and electricians alike. We hear enough complaining from them as it is, about our noise and our dust and rocks always in the way. Still, we are not loathed nearly as much as the insulation guys. Everyone hates them and the clouds of noxious particulate matter they create. Yesterday I said to Garrett, the head insulator, "You know, I used to think we were the most despised people on every job site, but I was wrong. Now I realize it is you. Everybody hates you."

  "Yes," he said. "It is true."
  It goes on my list of jobs I don't want to do: roofer, insulator. There. There's my list.

The First Lintel In Place

  The first lintel is set, along with the adjoining stones around the top. It was not a walk in the park. I sure hope it gets easier as we get higher. Oh wait, that isn't possible.

Last Jam

  There it is, the last jam stone. This one was particularly difficult because we had to make a three-dimensional cardboard template, which we used in Pittston to fabricate the stone. It fits perfectly now, but that was not without hours of adjustment grinding and taking the stone up and down and worrying that it was not going to work. As it stands, we still have to cut the top down and notch out for the lintel, but at least it's up.

First Stones Going Up On The Fireplace

  Last week we dismantled the fireplace at Dan's shop and transported it all down to the jobsite in Boothbay, where we rolled them up long ramps on PVC rollers and into the house. It was daunting, due to some of the stones' rather large size and awkward shapes, and at times I suspected the twenty foot aluminum ramp was going to collapse beneath the weight, but the process went smoothly and free of catastrophe.

  The first stones really started to go into place yesterday. We set up staging on either side of the chimney and ran a ten foot I-beam, from which we hung the chain-fall. Dan picked up a handy little set of "dogs" that you actually insert into 4" x 5/8" holes drilled at 45% angles in the top of the stone--the chain pulling up on these two simultaneously enables us to pick the rock up and move it around without any fear of it falling. I marvel at the simple genius of it all day long.