Boarding up a fireplace

[wilmabadger]

Hi All,

New to the forum.

I realise my question has kind of been covered before, however none of the answers have so far been specific enough to apply to my situation.

I am in the process of getting my spare room replastered. This has a fireplace in it which appears to be connected to the main chimney along with the fireplace downstairs. I would like to board up the fireplace in the upstairs room, however I am unsure as to whether I need to put a vent in as the open fireplace downstairs means that there should still be air being drawn up through the chimney.

If I do need to put a vent in, then it will be off centre in relation to the chimney breast, which would not go down well with my OCD partner!

I have read that I could board over the one fireplace so long as I use a fire resistant board due to potential hot embers falling back into the blocked up part of the chimney?

Answers on a postcard please

Many Thanks

Wilma

 

[joinerjohn]

Chimney stacks are usually built so one stack is separate from the other, ie, they are not connected internally. . I'd board over the opening before it's plastered and put a vent in to maintain air circulation.

 

[wilmabadger]

Thanks for the reply joinerjohn!

The house we have bought is a 2 up 2 down mid terrace and was built in 1910. It has 4 fireplaces, with the upstairs ones being directly above the downstairs ones.

I imagine that the flue for each of the downstairs fireplaces go straight up and each is then joined by the second fireplace above, on its way up to the chimney...

If you look at the third picture next to the heading "Multiple Fireplaces Sharing a Single Flue" on the following website you'll see what I mean:

http://www.inspectapedia.com/chimneys/Shared_Chimney_Flues_OK.htm

To be honest I do not know if the flue is shared, if someone out there can tell me whether this was common building practice 100 years ago it would be a great help.

I could of course be wrong, in which case an annoyingly off centre vent will be the only option!

 

[ajrobb]

if someone out there can tell me whether this was common building practice 100 years ago it would be a great help.

It was more common 200 years ago and more when a fireplace was added. I'd be intrigued if this was found in an original build Victorian house.

 

[stuart45]

That's an American site. Most chimneys here have separate flues, even the old ones.

 

[ajrobb]

That's an American site.

This is a UK site: http://gasltd.co.uk/legal/flue_testing.htm

However, we agree that 100 years ago it would have been rare. I'd count the number of chimney pots.

 

[wilmabadger]

Many Thanks for all the advice! It has really helped us make the right decision. Vents are being installed!

Regards

WilmaBadger