Chimney Stuff

[oldbutnotdead]

Morning all,
Another little poser from the Refurb from Hell!

2 chimney stacks, both in poor condition. One I plan to use so I'll just keep taking bricks off til they stop coming away in my hands then rebuild it, the other I don't plan to use but the same issue applies with the bricks.

I don't want to remove the breasts- they're buttressing the gable end wall quite nicely- but I do plan to remove the chimney down to below rafter level (same again- keep going til the bricks aren't loose then reinstate) cos it'll make reslating a lot easier and cheaper. No party wall involved by the way.

Question is to do with ventilation of the flue- will I be OK just venting it into the roof space (and via vent in the fireplace in the bedroom below it) or will I end up with condensation problems in the roof space? (Roof is breathable membrane, battens and fibre cement slates if that makes any difference. It isn't sealed but there isn't any deliberate ventilation either- no eaves spacers).

Not sure when the flue was last used- the fireplace in the bedroom was wallpapered over so I think any combustion byproducts will have washed away long ago. There is no fireplace or breast in the ground floor room below that- if I feel brave I'll try and find what is supporting the 1st floor breast. I suspect a skyhook is involved

Cheers,

 

[ree]

The carbon products of solid fuel fires will not have "washed away".

Any flue thats being retained, in redundant or active state, must be swept,
and maybe smoke tested.

Any redundant flue, whether it pierces the roof in a stack or not, should be vented top and bottom to give convection air flow. Especially when the chimney breast is on a gable wall.

Venting terminals should be fitted to chimney stacks/pots.

 

[oldbutnotdead]

Yerse- its the venting into the roof space that I'm curious about. Will I end up causing condensation in the roof by creating an air passage between a bedroom and the roof void?

 

[Alastairreid]

Venting into the roof space will raise the moisture levels and could cause you problems.

If the stack is on an external wall seal off the flue in the attic and install low and high level vents on the outside.

If an internal flue cap off bottom and top.

 

[oldbutnotdead]

Good plan. Couple of airbricks presumably (flue is in an external wall)?