Fireplace: She crumbles

Looks like the "concrete" wall in front of the fireplace which had pieces of wood every second row was completely not attached to the wall. Our contractor chipped away at few pieces of the wood, and the wall started to bulge outward. A couple more knocks and all I heard was a huge crash and the wall fell down. Luckily no one was hurt.

Our contractor will re-build the wall and make sure it is attached to the side walls and the chimeny itself. Stay tuned as the horror story continues...