First Floor Fire Place - Bottomless Hole

[Parkersrob]

Hello.

I have opened up a fire place on the first floor of a 1900 victorian property. There seems to be a bottomless hole where the old fireplace would have been? I assume that the chimney stack is hollow and whoever built the property filled it with rubble and bits of wood etc.

I was going to fill it back up with sand then pour a concrete hearth on top. Has anyone got any better ideas?

Thanks

Rob

 

[Ian H]

Dig it out and see where it goes.

 

[JohnD]

the chimneybreast usually contains (at least) one flue for each floor of the house. The fireplace is wider so the flues will snake around them. It's possible the first floor flue stops near the ground floor fireplace, which is likely to be centred in the chimneybreast, and bigger than the upstairs openings. You might consider filling it up with a non-flammable material such as exfoliated mica, and laying your concrete on that, spiked or bracketed to the brickwork as the filling will settle.

 

[Nige F]

Dig it out and see where it goes.

You're just obsessed with digging

 

[Ian H]

You're just obsessed with digging

There could be treasure down there!!!

 

[Parkersrob]

I will keep on digging!! I will let you know if I find any treasure.

 

[Parkersrob]

the chimneybreast usually contains (at least) one flue for each floor of the house. The fireplace is wider so the flues will snake around them. It's possible the first floor flue stops near the ground floor fireplace, which is likely to be centred in the chimneybreast, and bigger than the upstairs openings. You might consider filling it up with a non-flammable material such as exfoliated mica, and laying your concrete on that, spiked or bracketed to the brickwork as the filling will settle.

I think you might be right. Whats exfoliated mica?

 

[JohnD]

Non-flam insulating flakes

AKA vermiculite