bit of a kitchen/diner project planned, itll need plastering afterwards, and we thought whilst the plasterers in we'll ask them to board and plaster our fireplace as its only a small space. make a feature of it rather than the dated fireplace and electric fire we've got there at present which we never use.
i pulled it out to have a look and its full of sh1te at the back thats been dropped down the chimney over the years. luckily there were no dead birds.
so...... am i ok to buy a proper cap? or do i need something with some ventilation, a mesh or suchlike, altho i cant think of a reason why. but you know......rules and regs etc etc....
thanks
Can’t advise on a specific cap, but you do need ventilation, both at the top and the bottom if you’re boxing it off, as chimneys get quite damp.
Can’t advise on a specific cap, but you do need ventilation, both at the top and the bottom if you’re boxing it off, as chimneys get quite damp.
ah thats worth knowing then. so you cant just plasterboard, skim and stick a few pretty candles or flowers in then, you need a vent somewhere.
i'll have to look into this further then. its a cold house anyway, so dont particularly want any more cold air coming into the room.
cheers
If there is an existing chimney pot use a pepperpot chimney pot insert to cap it off, if there is no pot just bed in a curved ridge tile onto the top of the chimney, then small vent with insect mesh at the fireplace end.
You'll want an elephant's foot chimney cap. Widely available at builders merchants. You'll need the correct diameter to fit in the chimney pot so you'll need to measure the opening at the top
Just googled them both, look like they're the same thing then yes?
Thanks
Yes, same thing.
Sweep it first, excess "stuff" will hold damp
Simplest is a ventilated cap like this as ^^ https://www.travisperkins.co.uk/chimney-pots-and-cowls/hepworth-terracotta-ventilation-terminal-flue-vent-red-180mm/p/861625
Even builders' merchants are embarrassed at the retail price and you should be able to get one for around £60
An alternative is to cap the chimney with a slab and add a vent brick into the external stack, but either way you'll need a vent grill in the fireplace opening. Rough cut some polystyrene and wedge it up there, don't be too precise with the fit so that ventilation still happens while cutting down on draughts
Expensive but cheap in the long run option: Just take the lot down to ground level and make the kitchen layout a bit easier
well the kitchen/diner is nearly done so its time to start looking at this again. i thought firstly id go up on the roof and measure for the elephants foot, and what did i see when i looked up? theres already one there! 😀
i still went up to make sure theres actually a top to it and sure enough there is. however, i. was expecting it to be sealed which it isnt. i can spin/remove it quite easily. so my question is shouldnt it be mortared in to prevent rain seeping down the side and down the chimney?
ive just pulled the leccy fire out and cleaned the hearth, it was filthy. hopefully that was pre-cowl and just never cleaned properly.
before.....
after....
not the lovely brickwork i was hoping for to make a feature with, itll obviously need plasterboarding out with a ventilation grill inserted.
Chimney stoppers are just that, no need to bed in with mortar.
Chimney stoppers are just that, no need to bed in with mortar.
I've sealed ours with builders' silicone because they don't have a drip groove under the cap. The silicone isn't visible from the ground
well the kitchen/diner is nearly done so its time to start looking at this again. i thought firstly id go up on the roof and measure for the elephants foot, and what did i see when i looked up? theres already one there! 😀
i still went up to make sure theres actually a top to it and sure enough there is. however, i. was expecting it to be sealed which it isnt. i can spin/remove it quite easily. so my question is shouldnt it be mortared in to prevent rain seeping down the side and down the chimney?
ive just pulled the leccy fire out and cleaned the hearth, it was filthy. hopefully that was pre-cowl and just never cleaned properly.
not the lovely brickwork i was hoping for to make a feature with, itll obviously need plasterboarding out with a ventilation grill inserted.
It might be a bit tight, but you could try some brick slips. You can get them from builders' merchants in smaller quantities as well https://brickslips.co.uk/
Have you just cut off [what looks like] the pre-existing gas supply?! I'm not sure that's a good idea at all unless you're absolutely positive it's been disconnected/capped elsewhere 😬
(looks like it make have had a cap on it but not quite sure)
Chimney stoppers are just that, no need to bed in with mortar.
no worries with heavy rain seeping down the sides and into the chimney?
I've sealed ours with builders' silicone because they don't have a drip groove under the cap. The silicone isn't visible from the ground
ok, thats worth thinking about thanks
It might be a bit tight, but you could try some brick slips. You can get them from builders' merchants in smaller quantities
im not sure the shape lends itself to any sort of brickwork really, including slips, theres lumps and bumps all over the place 😀
just one thing ive noticed, the LH side of the lintel doesnt seem to have any support. ive sent a pic to our builder. what do you reckon?
im not sure the shape lends itself to any sort of brickwork really, including slips, theres lumps and bumps all over the place 😀
Board then slips if that's what you want, that's why it might be a bit tight
LH side of the lintel doesnt seem to have any support.
Looking at the rooftop view, 1960s estate? IME they didn't bother too much about modern fripperies then
There isn't a huge amount of weight there, just the triangle of bricks above, so it's possibly hanging on for grim death with a gob of mortar. Someone needs to take a look and it's an opportunity for something more decorative
Yeah as timba says a bead of external mastic or silicone around the elephant foot will be fine.
That lintel almost looks cast in situ but probably not. I doubt it's going anywhere but for peace of mind I would hilti hit some threaded rod in place at an angle through the lintel and the side masonry. Easy to do, you'll need a decent drill, longish masonry bit , threaded rod and a Hilti hit kit or copy from Screwfix. Basically you drill hole, blow out dust, check rod is cut to correct length, squeeze in the hit epoxy then slide in rod til you can't see the tip. Cures in 10 minutes
Also think about asbestos
no worries with heavy rain seeping down the sides and into the chimney?
Nope, really is not a worry. Sealing them or bedding them in is very much belt & braces but really is not necessary or the norm. I've been designing large domestic, commercial & industrial boiler flues for over 35yrs so I've seen a few more of these than most people if that persuades you not to bother getting up there with a mastic gun.
Timely thread...
Somehow we have a drip in our chimney, its like Chineese water torture at night. We've had 3 maybe 4 guys up there, one was a clear cowboy but the others have totaly redone all the Flaunching (?) and covered the whole lot in some kind of waterseal and while its reduced, its still there. I'm at a total loss of how its getting in and also how its dripping because as far as I am aware its flu lined but because our house goes over the alley between us and next door andything falling down hits our bedroom floor inside the chimney.
Anythoughts how this is all happening?
Is it definitely 100% a drip? As in you have seen it in a pot or on the floor?
It's behind the walled up bedroom fireplace & is directly linked to the amount of rain we've had so no i've not seen it but I'm struggling to think of an alternative.
I only ask as in a previous house I had a loose cowel fitting which made a tapping sound very like a drip. It took ages to work out what it was, and it only happened in weather from the south west which was usually rain.
The only way to be sure is to get up on the roof and inspect the chimney and eliminate everything bit by bit
Have you got a cowel fitted? Non stainless ones will rust through and allow rain in from the top.
Is the flue liner properly connected to the cowel? I've seen installs where the liner is just loose in the chimney can and it was letting water down between liner and masonry.
It doesn't need much in the way of cracks in the mortar to allow water in, although that would mean it was outside the flue rather than inside.
Condensation is a possibility.
Is the chimney containing more than one flue? In older properties they can share
I recently had a leak on a job where the lead work want properly wraggled in to the stack and water seeped in that way.
Flaunching (?)
The mortar bed holding the chimney pots in place. It's also there to cast water away from the hole in the middle
The problem with bedroom chimneys is that they can be a short, straight drop, so any drips do just that all the way to the bottom.
The only way to be sure is to get up on the roof and inspect the chimney and eliminate everything bit by bit
This is about the size of it. I always recommend a general builder rather than a roofer.
Apex-mounted stacks are IME better than eaves-level simply because the roof tends not to retain water against the stack