The Historic Winslow House
circa 1699
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at the Marshfield Town Meeting on April 28, 2025.
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2025 Chimney Restoration
Starting in April of 2025, the Winslow House Association will begin a project to preserve and stabilize the main block chimney of the 1699 Isaac Winslow House. Over time, water, weather, and creosote have caused erosion of the circa 1700 bricks and mortar. The project will concentrate on two specific areas of the chimney block: a deteriorating corbel from the back second-floor firebox and the interior flues at the attic level. The current plans emphasize the use of historical materials and methods for masonry, repointing, and plastering.
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Phase 1: Second Floor Firebox Structural Concern
The second floor spinning room contains a long-conceled firebox (fireplace). A corbel that transfers the load of this firebox's sidewall and a portion of the chimney stack down onto a lower area of the chimney is failing due to time, moisture, and erosion. It must be rebuilt and supported. The repair will require a combination of rebuilding, repointing and lime plastering the chimney mass. Materials and processes utilized will be period appropirate. Once the corbel is supported, the wall in the second floor “Spinning” Room will be opened up to rebuild the bricks in this area of the firebox.
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Phase 2: Attic Chimney Structural Concern
As was typical the flues of the Winslow House remained open for the duration of its life as a residence. During this time, and later, water eroded the mortar towards the uppermost part of the chimney. Creosote also will have caused damage. Moreover, the flue partitions, as was common, are built with lower quality bricks, often half bricks, which often spall (chip) and are not structurally tied into the outside walls. The flue partition washout from rain occurred on two sides whereas the outer walls washed out on one side.
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Sections of the chimney at the attic level will be opened up to rebuild and repoint bricks in this area. Sections of loose mortar will be encapsulated with lime parging to provide additional support. The chimney above the roofline has been rebuilt recently and is in good condition
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Phase 3: Main Chimney Stack Flue Cleaning & Corble Repairs (First & Second Floors)
Some areas of the flue walls are loose and shedding debris or have significant creosote buildup. Through a cleaning process debris and creosote are removed which allows for a thorough assessment of structural integrity. This also minimizes falling dust and debris which settles on the House's collections and textiles.
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The corbels within the flues are susceptible to mortar loss. The loss of mortar is structurally significant as loads transfer across the angle into the vertical stack. Accessing these flues will facilitate repoint and/or parging of these corbels, and providing additional support, such as installing lintels where corbels have begun to sag.​​