removing a brick from chimney

i have a chimney in the bedroom, parts of the bottom have been removed and a lintel installed at the top so its totally sealed. over the years this has caused damp as no ventilation in the chimney.
i need to remove a brick from the top to allow for ventilation as its causing damp. where is the best place for me to remove a brick.
can i go in the attic and remove a brick frm the chimney there?? if i do this is it safe, where should it be removed from??

higher up the better remove it from the centre and use an angle grinder to remove the mortar

vik2001 said:

i have a chimney in the bedroom, parts of the bottom have been removed and a lintel installed at the top so its totally sealed. over the years this has caused damp as no ventilation in the chimney.
i need to remove a brick from the top to allow for ventilation as its causing damp. where is the best place for me to remove a brick.
can i go in the attic and remove a brick frm the chimney there?? if i do this is it safe, where should it be removed from??

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You need to creat a through flow of air in the remaining chimney. It should be vented at the top and bottom. Removing a brick is fairly easy if you just drill out the mortar joints. Normally a vent would be set into the stack when the chimmey is capped off at the very top. However, taking a brickout high up in the loft will probably do if you have no rooftop access to the chimney. Then take a brick out low down in the room. Covering the holes with a plastic vent grill will keep things from going into the old flue through the holes you made. If the old chimney was not capped off at the top then you should do this instead of the high vent in the loft.