Wet chimney, and a blocked up fireplace?

[dancubas]

Hi everyone, I'm trying to solve a puzzle here, would welcome any advice you may have.

Just purchased a small victorian terrace. The chimney wall in the loft was soaking wet, survey advised removal of plaster to allow it to dry. I have done this, it's now hopefully drying out. However..

The house has a blocked up fireplace in the kitchen, which the previous owners built a shelf unit into. There is apparently no ventilation installed there. This kitchen had also had a course of damp proof treatment recently. There is still a bit of a damp smell in the kitchen, and the walls around the fireplace feel a bit suspect in places, which makes me paranoid.

So.

Am I right in assuming the following: in order to stop any dampness, and to dry out the chimney, I need to get rid of the built-in shelving unit, open up the fireplace, and install a vent?

Also: should I have these chimneys capped? It was suggested to me that it may be enough to do that, and I may not need to worry about vents. Could this be correct?

Here's a photo of the fireplace, and the chimney stack. Thanks for any advice in advance!

 

[Burnerman]

If the chimney render was soaking in the loft, do inspect the flashing around the chimney, the chimney pointing and the top flaunching (tapered cement that holds the pots on).
Consider capping the chimney with a ventilated cowl, that keeps the rain out and allows ventilation, and yes, it's best to allow the chimney to vent from down below too.
John

 

[chappers]

The fact that the chimney has some sort of bodged rendering job on it suggests this problem may be historic.
But as John says check the flashing and flaunching, get a ventilated cover on the chimney and as suggested ideally a vent low down.
That cupboard looks like it has already been cut back into the flue anyway so venting down there probably won't achieve much. You could vent it in the room above or somewhere above the cupboard

 

[dancubas]

If the chimney render was soaking in the loft, do inspect the flashing around the chimney, the chimney pointing and the top flaunching (tapered cement that holds the pots on).
Consider capping the chimney with a ventilated cowl, that keeps the rain out and allows ventilation, and yes, it's best to allow the chimney to vent from down below too.
John

The fact that the chimney has some sort of bodged rendering job on it suggests this problem may be historic.
But as John says check the flashing and flaunching, get a ventilated cover on the chimney and as suggested ideally a vent low down.
That cupboard looks like it has already been cut back into the flue anyway so venting down there probably won't achieve much. You could vent it in the room above or somewhere above the cupboard

Many thanks to you both. I like the idea of putting a vent above the cupboard. (As long as no damp exists below it). Do either of you think there could be a connection between the damp that existed in that kitchen (before the previous owners damp proofed it), and the blocked fireplace? The damp proofing was all around the bottom of the fireplace area (up to about 1m) when i bought the house, but I'm not sure how effective it really is, or what it's really doing. I'm surprised that whoever damp proofed the area failed to install any kind of ventilation, I'm wondering if they were cowboys or whether there may have been a legit reason why they didn't bother. (I checked the company, it shut down years ago).

Thanks again!

 

[Burnerman]

In early properties, the cement hearth was poured straight down onto the earth without any damp proofing membrane. Naturally enough, water can freely rise through this concrete. However, that didn't matter because a fire was always lit anyway, so any damp was quickly dealt with.
Ideally its best for that old hearth to be chopped away, some membrane laid and a new hearth formed on top and that will stop 95% of the damp reappearing - although a tiny amount may show in the sides of the old fireplace.
You can of course ventilate from the sides if you prefer.
John

 

[chappers]

.
You can of course ventilate from the sides if you prefer.
John

Very true, but I doubt there's anything to ventilate down at the cupboard levelnow that cupboard has been cut into the flues.

 

[Burnerman]

Ne'er a truer word spoken, mate......nowt left of the flue down there!
Maybe he could go in top right though, above the cupboard to hide things.
John