Blocking off inside a Chimney - ideas

[bp]

Hi,

I want some advice on blocking up the inside of a fireplace.

I live in an old terraced house which has a chimney and fireplace.

I have recently had the chimney wall and fireplace all re-plastered. I dont have a fire and I dont want one. The fireplace is currenlty open and it has been plastered inside. I have had it swept.

I just want to keep it like that as a decorative feature. But I need to block off the inside to prevent soot from falling down into the fireplace floor. I know I have to keep a ventilation hole

The arch of the fireplace is visible, as is a arch steel lintel. how can I block off the inside. I have had many thoughts but cant see how any of them would work.

The plasterer said I could fix a piece of hardboard on the inside, curved to match the arch, but I cant see a way of fixing this to the inside. ALso this wont cover the steel lintel. This is currently very rusty, I dont mind keeping this visible but and I cant see how I could tidy this up. My preference would be to hide it.

The plasterer did not plaster the edge where the lintel is so brickwork is visible there.

I tried messing about with some board but cant get it to look right. Fixing it to the wall is difficult on on side as on the inside the brickwork forms steps.

Has anyone done/seen anything like this before. I just some some ideas or an approach really. I am assuming pasterboard is out of the question as it cant be curved. Arch forming kits are a bit of overkill for this, and I probably could not plaster the arch anyway.

Many Thanks

Bhupesh

[Thomarse]

Best thing to do would be to keep the fireplace! - helps keep air circulation the your house and prevent damp, is a nice feature AND will add value to your home.. I really cant stand fireplaces being blocked up, it seems a waste and makes teh house loose charachter.

That said, I've just done the opposite to you and Ive knocked out fireplaces in my old victorian terrace and restored them... But in the main bedroom, we didnt really want the fireplace but wanted the "feature". So I knocked it out and had a similar problem to you. I put a few strips of batten around the inside, quite high up, higher than the highest part of the arch and then attached plywood to that, I also added some downlights to this to create a nice feature effect, it looks nice on teh old brickwork, which I've painted up.

The ply isnt curved, just plain a flat, but is high enough that you dont see it. As for the rusty arched lintel, I am going to wire brush that down, treat it and then paint it with an appropriate paint - making that part of the feature. Obviously when I knocked out the bricked up fireplace I was left with rough plaster edges, so I put beading up the sides, and made mitred beading around teh arch at teh top and plastered up to that.

I suppose you coudl do a similar thing with hardboard and curve it, but I didnt see the point in teh extra effort when you dont se up there if you put it high enough anyway

Tom

[robert]

Chimney balloons are available for sealing up chmineys - they leave a gap for some ventilation and can be removed if necessary.

Never used them tho'

[bp]

Tom,

It looks like I have not explained my self propery. I have done the same thing as you. The original fireplaces were bricked up. I opened them. I didn't want a fire and just want it open as a feature. But the inside of the fire place is open (all the way to the pot at the top). I have had it swept but I want to block it off inside just as you have done. Your suggestion of battons and plywood seems the best way forward.

A few questions then

Should I treat the ply and any way (i.e as for extrnal use). Guess the same appplie to the battens. DId you go round teh edge with some sealer to fill in the small holes - otherwise I'd guess you would still get small bits of dirt etc coming down

How did you fix the battens to the inside of the wall. I had a quick look up and there not much room to drill holes - did you glue.

Can you explain the mitred beading round the arch as I have no idea what this is. I have seen beading that is used by plasterers, but could not see how it could be used to create the arch - it does not seem to be bendable. The plasterer has plastered the arch but not that well as he assumned I would tidy up the arch. I could wire brush the steel and paint that - thats a great tip thanks. That leaves the exposed arch edge.

Thanks for the help

Bhupesh

[Andrew Gabriel]

I've done exactly this. If it backs onto an outside wall, I would suggest you ventilate the flue to the outside rather than the inside. Otherwise you'll lose up to a kW of heat up the chimney in winter.

I put an air brick from the flue to outside a few courses of bricks above the top of the fireplace. I then blocked off the flue using a piece of plasterboard in the top of the fireplace glued in place with bonding coar plaster. When fitting it, I put a layer of loft insulation on top of the plasterboard, partly to prevent it getting cold and forming condensation, but mainly to cushion any debris falling down the flue to reduce chance of it damaging the plaster- board. The back wall of the fireplace was only a single skin brick wall, and to prevent that getting cold and forming condensation and mold, I lined it with 25mm cellotex and then plasterboard, and plastered the whole inside.

I dug out the floor of the fireplace down to the slate damp course in the brickwork, fitted a damp proof membrane, layed about 6" of cement and vermaculite insulation and brought it up to floor level with mortar. This should enable it to be used for a fire in the future (if the flue is reestabled and the cellotex removed). Fireplaces often relied on regular fires to keep damp out of the base and hearth, and without fires, mine was slightly damp as the infill wicked moisture up from the earth.

I dropped a lighting cable down the flue from the loft, to enable a concealed light to be fitted in the fireplace.

[Thomarse]

Bhupesh,

I see, it does sound very similar to what I have done upstairs. On the side of the plywood that face up into teh chimney I have treated that with sonme external wood preserver, the bit that is visible, i've just used standard satin paint, or whatever you want.

As for any small gaps that were left around the edges, I have used decorators chaulk to seal those.

I forgot to say in my original reply that I put a vent in the plywood too, just s standard plastic one, and the lighst either side.

I must admit, getig the batten in place was the hardest part and I did curse quite alot while doing it...I had to drill at a slight angle as my drill was too bit for teh chimney hole, but I wasnt worried too much about teh neatness of the batten, as long as they were secrured well, they are now hidden by the plywood. I didnt find a way to attach the ply to the front arched edge as there was no way I could drill up there, but the ply seems to hold well enough along the 3 edges.

When I said Mitred beading, I used standard wooden beading, the right depth for the plaster and attached a stip up each side of the opening, in the room. To create teh arch effect at teh top I cut teh battem into 5 mitred lenths, which when attached creasted the arch i required all the way around. This was also trickey as the old plaster was very deep and varyied greatly in depth around the opening.

[Londoncityslicker]

I've recently done the same to one of my chimneys. I just put a metal plate in. Attached to two shelving brackets omn the sides.

Enough there to stop debris and soot falling down. Shelf can be pulled out and any rubbish disposed of;. and useful for any future chimney sweeping. There are enough airgaps around the sides to allow for it to breathe. Must say its tricky to drill the holes. but as it's unseen you can make a mess of it with no issue.