Hi All: My wife and I are midway through removing a wall between our living room and dining room in our condo (brick rowhouse in Boston built in 1900). On one edge, the wall divides into a triangle, and well, we found this behind it. Two questions . . . well actually more than two questions, but these are at the top of my mind: (1) Anyone know what this beauty is? Is it abandoned chimney for dual wood stoves? (2) Is it possible to tell whether the structure will be fine if I remove the framing?

Concrete was just poured a few days ago, and already there are crack lines everywhere and parts have shattered. I'm being told this is because the concrete was too hot. We had 2 truck deliveries that day. I'm told the second truck arrived a couple hours too early, due to a scheduling mistake, and because it had to sit in the sun while the first truck was being unloaded, the concrete in the second truck got too hot. I understand it is the nature of concrete to crack, and there are things we can do to minimize cracking. We packed the ground, we laid base rock, and used rebar. The pour was about 4 inches thick. These cracks and the shattering appeared immediately, and I'm being told because the concrete was too hot, and that's because the truck came too early and sat in in the sun. Do I have just cause for a refund from the concrete company for providing me with damaged concrete because the concrete was too hot because the second truck came too early?