this post was submitted on 04 Aug 2023
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Most chimneys in my neighborhood are open, thus water enters, yet fireplaces are blocked off. What happens to the water? (fedia.io)
submitted 1 year ago by ciferecaNinjo@fedia.io to c/homeimprovement@lemmy.world
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I have a few apparently cast-iron chimneys bedded in concrete. They have no hats on them. I’m not sure how the fireplaces were blocked off but it feels solid, as if they bricked them shut and plastered over it.

Isn’t this a bad idea? They don’t seem to be filling up with rainwater yet it rains quite heavily. I assume the fireplaces have been blocked off for over a decade at least. There must be quite an ecosystem of creepy crawlies going on in there.

So what if I want to open the fireplace back up and install a boiler, sewer vent, wood stove, kitchen range hood, or ventilation system? Can they be restored or must they just be treated as wasted dead space?

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[–] givesomefucks@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Even if there's no lid, there's likely a closed flue dampener. A little door in the middle of the chimney.

Although I'd be incredibly surprised if there's isn't a capstone that was put on when the lid was taken off. Unless the lid just broke off and was never replaced...

In that case, yeah, bad shit is happening

[–] ciferecaNinjo@fedia.io 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Are flues water-tight? When I would close the flue in other homes, I would typically hear the sound of metal hitting something hard, which somewhat implies they don’t have a rubber seal.

There are 3 tubes & none of them have caps, so apparently it’s deliberate. Most of the neighbors have no caps either and I think most fireplaces are blocked off in the region.

[–] givesomefucks@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

There are 3 tubes

Then it's not an "open chimney".

Smoke rises and goes through those fine even tho their narrow. But rain almost never falls perfectly straight down, so the amount of rain that gets in those three narrow pipes is incredibly minimal.

If the fireplace was still open with the tubes it wouldn't be an issue what little water might come in would just evaporate.

It's probably ok. But you usually see that method in Europe or upper east coast America in historic homes.

You're probably better off asking a neighbor, or if you're really worried, just call a chimney inspector so you know for sure