[gareth]

New user - internal chimney problem, any advice please?

Hi,

I am a new user who is after some advice. I am just looking into buying my first property and the one I am considering has the following problem.

The chimney inside the house, where it comes straight down in the corner of the room, the previous occupants removed the bottom half of this chimney, about 7 foot off the bottom so the new bottom of the chimney is near the ceiling but this has been filled in poorly and therefore is leaking as there is a lot of water damage around the wall, the damage appears to be just cosmetic.

I was basically wondering how this needs to be fixed, if it specialised and if anyone knows how much this would cost?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated as I do not know about this sort of thing.

Thanks :thumbup:
Gareth

 

[DangerMouse]

sounds very odd, do you have a pic?

DM

 

[gareth]

This is the only one I have, it is about 6-7 foot, just below ceiling. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

 

[DangerMouse]

man, that IS bizarre! what shape is the roof in? it's most likely that rain came down the chimney is all, probably no cap or it blew off?
if it were me, i'd continue and remove the rest of it, or have it inspected and add TO it and put in a fireplace or woodstove.
in our old home, we put in new furnace to vent from the wall, and removed the entire chimney from the roof down and redid the roof. this gave us a much larger attic space we turned into an extra room. what is above that thing? attic? upstairs?

DM

 

[gareth]

It carries on like that up into the room above then up through the attic where it goes outside. It is a strange one, it looks like water has come through it where the bottom part ends, whether it just wasn't sealed or not.

Is it a simple enough fix would you guess? (simple but probably costly!)

Thanks

 

[DangerMouse]

diy would be cheap enough, just depends on what you want to do with it i guess.....

DM

 

[gareth]

True, I might remove the bricks up to the ceiling and then close it off, assuming the survey did not pick up any major problems, what would I need to do to seal it properly?

 

[DangerMouse]

depends on what's up there, i guess....
regardless, you shouldn't let this stop you from buying the place, if it's all you can find wrong.
it CAN be redone any number of ways.

DM

 

[gareth]

Thats true, thanks for your help, if I get the place I will post an update of the solution.

Gareth

 

[DangerMouse]

i tore out one chimney that they'd done about the same thing. they took newspaper and shoved it down the hole to make a 'floor' then pumped in what looked to be a whole can of greatstuff foam, then they duct taped sheet plastic (visqueen) over the whole mess (that evidentally raccoons love to shred and play with.....) lol what a mess....

DM

 

[DangerMouse]

please do....
honestly, i'm curious what's under that paper.... what's holding those brick in the air????

DM

 

[gma2rjc]

the previous occupants removed the bottom half of this chimney, about 7 foot off the bottom so the new bottom of the chimney is near the ceiling but this

The previous owners probably didn't remove any of the chimney. Most likely, it was installed that way when the house was built. They used them for their wood stoves.

We had two of these in my parents house. Only ours had a tapered bottom, not flat. To get them out, my brothers started with the bricks at the top, up in the attic, and worked their way down. When they were all taken out, there was no apparent structural support for them. It was very strange. There was also one in the kitchen of an old farmhouse I rented.

 

[DangerMouse]

When they were all taken out, there was no apparent structural support for them.

aHA! ANOTHER case of that old "gravity reversing itself in small, specific areas" syndrome! heh heh
if it were me, considering prices for heating fuels, i'd put a woodstove there.
or pellet/corn/wood combo unit maybe?
DM

 

[gareth]

FAO: gma2rjc


Thanks for the reply, if it was installed like this how come it is leaking now? I would be okay leaving it there as long as I could seal it, have you any knowledge of how to seal it properly?

 

[gma2rjc]

Does the chimney continue up through the roof? If so, that would be the only source of water I can think of.

I'm not a roofer or an expert on this kind of thing. But I can tell you that one of the chimney's in my parents house caused the floor at that end of the room to drop 3+ inches over time. After the chimney was taken out, we leveled the floor and there was that much of a difference from one side of the room to the other. We could lay a pop bottle on the floor in the middle of the room and it would roll to the wall with the chimney.

I don't think the chimney in the other room caused the floor to be uneven. That wall must have had better support under it.

Are you having an inspection done on this house before you buy it?

DangerMouse -
if it were me, considering prices for heating fuels, i'd put a woodstove there.
or pellet/corn/wood combo unit maybe?

:thumbsup: great idea.

 

[gareth]

I will be having an inspection done on it yes, hopefully that will bring up any problems.

Gareth