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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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[–] dunning_cougar@waveform.social 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Does it freeze in winter where you live? Ice expands as it forms and this can do damage to masonry. Since your chimney is open to atmosphere, rain water probably evaporates faster than it accumulates. It may be persistently damp in there though, which means mold. Nothing a bleach solution in a spray bottle can’t fix.

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

It freezes but I guess I wouldn't expect pressure on the masonry because the chimny seems to be a cast iron tube so I would think the expansion would be forced to happen vertically.

[–] dunning_cougar@waveform.social 1 points 1 year ago

Yeah, you may be good to go, structurally. I think most modern chimney liners are ceramic. I struggle with drafting issues, aka getting smoke to go out.