Chimney/fireplace advice

[Jedtayloruk]

Hi,
can anyone make sense of what's going on with this fireplace? To me it looks like it was a much larger opening that has later been partially filled in.
There's an opening in the brick at the bottom but no where near big enough to build a fire, could this have been used to vent an old stove?
Anyway, I would like to open it back up, what's the best way to proceed? I have a sneaking suspicion I should get a builder in.
Cheers
Jed

 

[vinn]

OP,
First thing for you to do is to read back, and research similar posts on this forum - there's masses of them.
Then post pics showing the whole wall - &, if its a gable wall, pics of the external chimney breast & wall.

What do you want to do with a larger opening - install an appliance of some kind?
Openings must be to appliance Mfr's dimensions.
Your chimney must be swept.
The chimney stack & terminal(s) must be examined for soundness.

There is a back boiler and copper pipes still in place in your c/breast - remove them but be cautious as they might be full of water - do you still have a copper storage cylinder on the upper floor?

Do you have any issues with damp in that room?
Is the floor solid or suspended?

 

[Jedtayloruk]

Thanks for the reply. I did look through some similar posts but couldn't find the same setup.

This is a pretty old building, built somewhere in the late 1700s I believe but it's not listed. What's troubling me is the lack of arch or lintel or anything that looks supportive.

It is a gable wall, the pipes lead outside. The pipes are non operational, they used to feed a tank on the 1st floor but that is now gone.

There is no chimney breast, the wall is very thick stone and the chimney runs up through the wall. I already have one active fireplace in the living room and had the chimney examined when this was reinstated so the stricture is sound, but of course that section would need sweeping and testing.

There is a little damp in the right corner. It has a suspended floor that I will be replacing asis seen better days. The fireplace has a large stone hearth in front of it that goes down to ground level.

I keep trying to add more pics but I'm having technical issues

 

[vinn]

I dont understand: is the chimney opening in the pic on the ground floor?
How does the "active fire in the living room" flue connect with the flue in the pic?
What was "reinstated"?
Do you have damp in the corner of the room or the fire opening?

Individual fire openings have individual flues: non-connecting from fire opening up to stack terminal - each flue must be swept and smoke tested &, in your case, it would be safer for a camera to be dropped down the flues.

Its no good advising you about lintels etc. until I know what you propose to do?

Pics as requested above would still be useful - showing the part of the gable outside the flue will help. Roughly speaking, the back wall of the flue.