Throw nothing away – that’s our mantra – and we’ve done pretty well so far. Removing the chimney breast was no exception.
I’d assumed that even we would have difficulty finding a home for a load of old bricks. Pete our builder was in agreement, convinced that the dump was their future home. John on the other hand was very clear that someone would buy them. Probably someone renovating an old house who didn’t want the new brick look to upset the aesthetic. And sure enough, a quick search on the web tips up a number of companies that sell Victorian bricks. (no recommendation intended, just an interesting read)
The job of removing the upper reaches of the chimney had now passed from John and Emmett (my 6yr old grandson) to James, the labourer. Fortunately he also enjoyed making use of old materials so he was happy to clean each one as he took it down. Soon we had a tall pile of quality bricks with a good story to tell.
Of course, some were needed to repair the damage – build up up the wall and block up the hole that had been the chimney, leaving us with a good flat surface to work with. But even with all that, we had a goodly pile of bricks to find a home for.
Then it was my turn.
I logged onto the Facebook marketplace, took a picture of the bricks and got cracking. A bit of extra money is always welcome, not to mention it ensures people are serious about a purchase – it’s tempting not to bother at the last minute if there’s no skin n the game. We really wanted to make sure they were used and, sure enough, a buyer soon arrived on our doorstep at the time agreed.
It only took a couple of days too. A very pleasant person who was building a retaining wall in his garden and wanted it to chime with his own Victorian home. He turned up on time, filled his car and agreed to come back for the rest the next day.
Time to crow
And John couldn’t wait to crow. While Pete would have thrown the lot, we’d got £50 for them. Just as he said we would. Put that in your chimney and smoke it!
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