Bricking up an air vent

[Mendosa]

Hello,

I've recently moved house and am having trouble with an air vent in the front bedroom which faces a road that becomes a bit noisy in the early morning.

As it stands, it has a grill on the outer wall and a slatted "door" on the inside. Unfortunately it is rather old and the flaps don't really close together very well or, indeed, stay shut.

What I'd really like to do is brick it up to get rid of the noise which keeps waking me up ! I covered the vent about 3 months ago and have seen no evidence of unwanted damp or moisture build-up, so I'm hoping that won't be an issue.

Does anyone have any tips regarding this ? Should I just brick it up ? Are there other better (and sound-proof) things I can install in its place ? Should I try to brick it up myself or get a builder in ? Should I worry about the damp ?

Any thoughts are most welcome. Thanks for your time.

 

[masona]

All depends what the air-vent was put in for,one possible reason e.g. gas fire , boiler or the last owners use it for ventilation instead of opening the window for security.As you say you have not seen no evidence of unwanted damp or moisture build-up.You can just brick it up from inside & only leave the outside vent grill alone.If you don't want to brick it up you can fill it with rockwool insulation or foam-fill and put the cover back on.If you don't want to look at the vent grill put a picture of you in front of it !!

 

[Mendosa]

Thanks Masona. The vents are actually original features (it's late Victorian/Edwardian house) and all the other cottages have them.

I suppose they were put in because a chimney runs through the rooms ? Is it dangerous to brick up vents in rooms with (used) chimneys in them ?

Rockwool's a good idea, I hadn't thought of that. The picture of me, however, I could do without ! The mirror in the bathroom's bad enough.

 

[masona]

Is it dangerous to brick up vents in rooms with (used) chimneys in them ?

If the fire works well when the room door is open, but smokes when the door is shut, the problem is air starvation. This is not a fault in the construction of the fireplace or flue, but a lack of room ventilation. To cure this problem, additional air must be brought into the room, preferably without introducing unacceptable cold draughts. Either vent directly through an outside wall, or vent into the hall (or a conservatory) and then to outside. If the fire works well with the door to the hall open, this has proved that there is sufficient ventilation from the main house. Also, a vent from the hall to outside is usually more acceptable than a vent from the living room direct to outside. If the room has a suspended wood floor with air bricks round the outside of the house, then a simple floor grille cut into the floorboards to one side of the hearth or chimney breast is a good solution.