On top of the wall, at last

We put in the last two courses of blocks, and here's Mike with the tools of his trade after we'd finished.



The wall follows the contour of the chimney on the right which should give it a bit more strength, and there are reinforcing bars drilled into the wall to hold it in as well as possible.

The view from on top:



We've laid the last course of blocks upside down, and removed some of the webs inside. The idea is to fill them with concrete - and some metal rebar - to provide a good solid pad for the beams to rest on. We'll make the upper concrete level a couple of inches above the lower edge of the beams.