i ripped out an old coal-burning fireplace which was damaged anyway and had a plaster/mortar and lathe wall over it, cracked and crumbling all the way up to the ceiling. chimney has already been capped off and roofed over years ago.
am going to frame out a closet in the new empty space. behind the plane of the wall, the fireplace space was filled solid with 6 or 7 solid brick walls, floor to ceiling, but not attached to the exterior wall, which is just mortared brick. no studs or other support.
my question is: before i start work on the closet, do i need to reinforce the inside of the exterior brick wall? i was thinking maybe slathering mortar over chicken wire or hardware cloth just for some strength. then build closet frame close but not touching that, insulate and finish-
is it necessary to reinforce?
photo attached, small red circle shows daylight coming through chink in the wall; ther are several small places like this that i’ll fill first. 2 long horizontal circles around rows of anchors in outer wall that were bent up but not attached to the bricks inside.
red lines at bottom show where the closet wall will come out to.
thanks for any info you can offer-
mary
Edited 7/1/2005 11:26 am ET by MSM
Replies
okey dokey. NOW there's a photo attached...
the original wall had only 2 horizontal rows of ties to begin with, and that has stood just fine for 70 years... must i add more ties now?
Ah, well, the "good old days" were sometimes better and worse than today.
What was in the space before? Was it another wythe of brick? I've seen some chimney chases built with a 'seperation' space rather like that (but I've never found a contemporary reference to describe it as common or accepted masonry practice).
Now, the "do I hafta now?" question is tricky. It could be that the local building inspection depatment might think they hae a considered opinion in the matter (might not, too). If the Bi is involved, you definitely have to rebuild to whatever the current codes are.
Now, having said that, I feel compelled to point out that you may be in violation of local laws & ordinances in performing this work without permits and/or inspections. That, engaging in futher structural work without approval of the AHJ could constitute a crime (etc., yada yada yada--there, I said it, it's moot for now, I'm moving on--jees, when did building turn inta jr lawyering anyways <doan answer that, I already know>).
You may recall that in an earlier post I speculated that the still standing wall might be best left alone. That could still be true. I'm bothered by the "can see daylight through" comment, though. There's Chicago Brick and there better Chicago Brick. I'm way too far away to judge. And, I'm just a voice on the internet (be like gunner and just be 16, too <wink>).
Did this thread move, and lose a bunch of postings?
nope mac, it didn't move and shrink. this is the original one i posted in the proper forum. but after 3 days of ** the sound of crickets chirping** i copied it over to General discussion where i got fast response. i tried to delete this one, but couldn't... maybe the sysop can do it for me to avoid confusion?mac, would you mind copying your response ver to the other thread in general discussion for the sake of continuity? i'll meet you back there later. meanwhile, read some of my earlier descriptions of what was in the wall-