Many of you remember the New Year’s Day tornado of 2022. After an excruciating night of one tornado watch or warning after another, the last expired around 7 a.m. on Jan. 1. Less than two hours later, a tornado seemingly dropped down out of nowhere near 14th Street and the railroad tracks. It destroyed two of Southern States’ warehouses, then busted its way up South Campbell Street and across East Ninth and East Seventh streets before lifting at the hill before Mechanic Street.
The Dalton house took a direct hit. Flying debris punched a hole in the back of the roof, and the chimney came tumbling down. The house was empty during the storm; the owners had moved out more than two years earlier. But because of pandemic restrictions on foreclosures, the bank hadn’t seized it. It sat like this for most of 2022.
Chimney Design
Before we even closed on the house, I reached out to Mike Sola, a mason whom I had worked with on a prior job, about the chimney. Even then, it was a full year and a half before Mike could work us into his schedule. I felt that it was worth the wait, since Mike had experience working with historic, lime-based mortar as well as the precision to rebuild any special features in the design.