Damp chimney

[m0t]

There is a chimney above our kitchen which used to have a boiler or cooker running into it (original to the house). I can get my hand under the bottom of it (about an inch clearance to the ceiling below) and can feel that it has been capped with metal that appears to be rusting away.

One of the walls of the chimney is part of the wall to a bedroom and is damp the whole way up (and has been for some time by the look of it). Plaster is coming off the wall here and the room seems fairly damp ad well. There doesn't appear to be any dampness on the other sides of the chimney but these are in the eaves which are very well ventilated.

My understanding is that chimneys shouldn't be capped at one end because they need ventilation or they get damp, could this cause the damp all the way up the wall? Ideally I would get the chimney taken down but I can't really afford this at the moment, would there be any benefit in drilling some holes through the brickwork and putting a vent cover over it?

 

[goldeagle]

I take it from your description that the chimney breast has been removed in the kitchen but is still standing in the bedroom above - might be worth checking that the remaining breast is supported properly upstairs (although this would be unrelated to your problem).

In response to your question - if your fireplace is blocked off in the bedroom then yes, it is normally good practice to include a vent, particularly in your situation where you have damp issues, to ensure good ventilation through the chimney.

Not sure what is going on at your chimney stack, but you might want to fit a ventilated cap over any open cowls (not in use) to avoid rain coming in. If these have already been capped off, unless they are ventilated then putting holes in your bedroom chimney breast is unlikely to do much - as there would be no flow of air.

If the damp is that bad you should also check for any other issues, particularly at the chimney stack - failed flashing, damaged pointing/masonry etc which could be allowing rain to penetrate.

 

[m0t]

The chimney is sat on a concrete beam, it's all original (1930s). When it was built a metal flue came down below this to connect to the appliance. The flue has been removed and plasterboard put up.

None of the chimneys have been capped and we are getting someone in to do this. When we moved in the fireplaces were blocked up, when we opened them there was a couple of skeletal pigeons in each.

The flashing looks to have had attention recently but I don't think it is right and that it causing some of the issue.

 

[ree]

There are masses of similar posts on here with similar issues.

FWIW: if you follow back some of my posts on these issues then you will get a better idea of whats happening, and why its happening, and what to do next?