Boarded up fireplace advice

[Vicki29]

Hi, the house I have moved into is a standard 1968 semi detached timber frame and the fireplace in the lounge has been boarded up with plasterboard and plastered and painted over.

The chimney has been capped with something similar to the attached photo but no vent is fitted to the area that was boarded up and I’m wondering whether this will suffice or is there nothing else we need to do? Builders that I have asked all say they’ve never heard of damp in chimney breast walls which I find odd? We don’t have any damp yet but I’m keen to get ahead of the game and make sure the chances are minimised rather than have that to deal with down the line. It’s been boarded up for about 3 years.

 

[tell80]

i dont think a 1968 build would have used a solid fuel fire. so just cut a letterbox hole for a small hit and miss ventand leave the vent open.
Poke your camera through the hole to check if theres a ss flue liner still inside the flue. a liner means a appliance was previous used.
read the
15 jan o7 related thread below.

 

[^woody^]

The fireplace opening appears to be visible through the plastered wall! If so, that's not right regardless.

If you have a chimney, you have a flue, and if you have a flue, you have a risk of internal condensation. Whether that condensation leaches through the breast in an unlined flue or drips down to the opening in a lined flue you won't know until it's too late.

Remove those builders contact details from your phone to avoid mis-dialing, just in case you need a proper builder in the future.

 

[conny]

The outline of the old opening suggests it was big enough to have a back-plate for a gas fire. Gas fires produce a lot of moisture so it's possible you may suffer with condensation at a later date. It may have already suffered with it before the house was put on the market so they blocked it up and hid the tell-tale signs.
May be wise to put a small vent in there to minimise the risk.

 

[Dodgyrog]

If that wall is an outside wall (not the one joined to your neighbours) just check there is not a vent on the outside going in to the rear of the fireplace. I had an old victorian house and one of the 3 blocked up fireplaces had that when we moved in. Appeared to work ok, but if there is no sign of a vent then deffo have one put in. Damp doesn't always appear in cases like that but not worth the risk.