studioporn

i never thought i'd define the bane of my existence as 2 layers of brick, but goddamn, the bane of my existence right now is the 2 layers of brick that were underneath the fireplace. some combination of fireplace heat, really thin mortar layers, mud, and god only knows what else, has caused all the bricks to essentially fuse together to the point where it's actually easier to chip away at the brick than the mortar. it's insane--i get one brick out and i'm so exhausted from the ordeal i have to take a break. it can take a ridiculous amount of pounding just to get the chisel halfway through the joint.

i picked up a mason blade for my circular saw today. it cuts through the mortar, but it kicks up a hell of a lot of dust in the process and in the end it doesn't really buy much because it barely cuts to the bottom of the top brick layer, and wedging a pry bar in there doesn't do much good at all as the bricks are still fused to the layer underneath and will not budge. i've had only limited luck thusfar being able to get in underneath the bottom layer and pry up from there. i was able to do that for a couple of bricks on the far left, but the general structure of things precluded me from continuing this technique as i moved to towards the right.

i'm busy recording tomorrow, but i'm going to attack things again on wednesday. i may round up a few people to come brainstorm on ways to attack this problem. i almost bought an air hammer and compressor today, but talked myself out of it. after tonight's utter lack of progress, i may revisit that idea. especially if i could manage to position the hammer such that i could hit things from the side break up the joints between the 2 layers.