Loading…
5
Saw a 1920s flue in an old hotel in Butte, Montana and the tile work blew my mind
Stayed at a place in uptown Butte a couple weeks back and the owner let me peek at the chimney stack since I do this work. The flue was lined with square clay tiles from the 1920s, still smooth as glass, and the mortar joints looked like they got pointed yesterday. Someone up on that roof had run a brush through it pretty regular for about 60 years, because the creosote glaze on the smoke shelf was paper thin. I got up there with my phone light and could see the original trowel marks inside the thimble, which you almost never get to see. Made me think about how much of our trade is just showing up on a schedule and not getting fancy. The owner asked if it needed a stainless liner and I honestly wasn't sure I wanted to tell him yes. How do you all talk to folks about old tile flues that still check out fine?
1 comments
Log in to join the discussion
Log In1 Comment
rubyschmidt2d ago
Is a 60 year old tile flue that still checks out really the problem here? If it's smooth and the joints are tight, seems like selling him a liner is fixing something that ain't broke.
7