adding air vent to bricked up fireplace

[diykat]

hi

I've stripped a first floor room back to bricks so i can plasterboard n get it skimmed for nice finish.

the fireplace which had been bricked up didnt have an air vent.... i thought i should add one... i've knocked 1 brick out but have found there appears to be another line of bricks behind. is this normal? - not sure when i would have been bricked up. is it essential to add an air brick?

thanx

 

[^woody^]

If a fire place has been bricked up it could be normal. Or are you chopping into the brest?

An airbrick goes at the base of the flue and at the top too if its been capped off. A 3x9 will suffice for a bedroom, and a 6x9 if its a ground level (ie longer flue)

 

[diykat]

hi, thanx for reply

house is victorian so fireplace would have been used at one time - there is supporting brick arch above it. it looked like previous owners had blocked it up without bothering to add an air vent to it... so i was going to add one, i took out a brick which i was going to replace with airbrick and found that their appears to be another row of bricks behind... whole opening has been bricked up solid by the looks. there wasnt any damp or anything coming through the plaster either. should i leave it without an air vent? only other thing i can see me havin to do is take all the brick out and rebuild with single row with air brick. my diy books dont cover the strange past diy efforts and how to put things how they should be...

thanx