You ain't seen ANYTHING til you start sawing stone or brick.. seriously.. be prepared for dust by the buckets to go flying off your masonry blade.. you're cutting the top half off? I highly recommend you dismantle the stone from the top down to about the level you want the mantle.. then saw the bits that are left.. do NOT saw stone at the mantle height and then try to remove working ÿour way up.... it could all come crashing down on you.. I had a friend die that way in high school..

In dismantling, I did what you're doing with bricks.. I chisled the mortar away and pulled out brick by brick, then sawed the vertical brick halves away to make it flush, then built a 90 degree cover to mount over the edges.. it looks great.. like it was part of the house..

Just be extremely careful, please.. and work your way DOWN from the very top.. stop when you're a little bit higher than the mantle height you want, then horizontally cut the stone parts away using a circular saw with a masonary blade that you try to keep wet.. use a level and mark the horizontal line on the stone.. be expecting that line to ger washed away by keeping the blade wet.. also, be expecting the saw blade to kick out every now and then if it hangs up on something.. .. be expecting more dust and debris than you've ever seen before.. it will go FLYING off the blade in large bunches.. and try to keep the blade wet to reduce friction heat on the blade.. because that will tear up the blade.. your blade will get small diameter as you progress.. it's cutting with friction and the blade will wear away.. hopefully one blade gets you through this job..

Holler if you need any other useless info lol...

It's not hard, but you have to do it the right way.. there my be better ways, but this is how I did my brick wall removal.. I just don't want you to get hurt, ok?

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Friendship is like peeing your pants.. Everybody can see it, but only you can feel the warmth..