Kitchen air bricks

[jigpips]

Hi, after a little advice please.
I'm currently fitting a new kitchen where we have 2 air bricks sat below the base units.
Kitchen has a solid floor, there'll only be a gas hob, but we will have an extractor taking everything outside.

No boiler in the kitchen.

The walls have a 60mm cavity, but the the air bricks are clay sleeved, could i block these vents?

any help greatly appreciated, thanks Steve

 

[blup]

The outer leaf needs ventilation to allow escape of moisture that builds up above windows, but not the whole cavity given the air brick is above dpc level, and is not connected to sub floor ventilation. So on the face of it they are unnecessary. Maybe there was a localised leak or a build up of damp from a compromised cavity, the top vent looks newer than the surrounding brick work, which suggests a repair. But until you are certain they serve no purpose I would not permanently cover them.

 

[noseall]

Hi, after a little advice please.
I'm currently fitting a new kitchen where we have 2 air bricks sat below the base units.
Kitchen has a solid floor, there'll only be a gas hob, but we will have an extractor taking everything outside.

No boiler in the kitchen.

The walls have a 60mm cavity, but the the air bricks are clay sleeved, could i block these vents?

any help greatly appreciated, thanks Steve

Block them up.

Do you have mechanical extraction elsewhere in the kitchen, i.e. an extractor (not some crappy charcoal filter that is not vented to the outside) above the hob?

 

[jigpips]

Yes will have an extractor above the cooker, extracting outside.
Also have a trickle vent on window

Thanks
Steve

 

[RrogerD]

How old is the property? Has the room always been a kitchen?
They could have been installed as a means of certain ventilation when a gas or other combustible appliance is present. We have similar in our Lounge. We had the gas fire capped off and don't use the fireplace at all now so, we simply taped cardboard over it.
Edit: was there a fridge or similar sited in front of them?

 

[jigpips]

I believe the house is 1930s
looks like it has always been a kitchen.
House originally had a back boiler, long since gone.
Only gas appliance will be a gas hob.
No fridge there in the last 20 years

Thanks

 

[Alastairreid]

Could have been a pantry or such like there at one time.