Hi everyone 
Our house is an early 1900s, 4 bedroom, semi detached. It has 3 chimney stacks, and 6 chimneys/fireplaces as follows:
1. Living room (stack 1) - open fire place
2. Bedroom above living room (stack 1) - plaster boarded over with air vent
3. Dining room (stack 2) - plaster boarded over with NO air vent
4. Bedroom above dining room (stack 2) open fire place
5. Kitchen (stack 3) - completely blocked off, I think with breeze blocks with NO air vent
6. Bedroom above kitchen (stack 3) - open fire place
We have no fires of any kind and do not intend to have any in the future. All the open fire places are decorative only. All 6 of the chimneys are open at the top, with no caps/cowls.
The problem is, small amounts of rain water are coming down into the open fire places, and I imagine into the blocked ones too. We are also losing a lot of warm air from the house which is being sucked up the chimneys via the open fire places.
So we want to completely block off all 6 chimneys to (a) stop water coming down and (b) stop the warm air escaping.
The advice we have had from a roofer who is a family friend is to remove the chimney pots (we don't want them any more and they are a bit wobbly so a danger in high winds), and seal all the stacks at the tops. Then also place 2 air bricks in each stack (one for each chimney).
Is this correct? What about the 2 chimneys that are blocked at the bottom (dining room and kitchen) - do these need vents putting in once the stacks have been sealed at the top? The last thing we want is a damp problem!
Any help is much appreciated!
Cheers!
Our house is an early 1900s, 4 bedroom, semi detached. It has 3 chimney stacks, and 6 chimneys/fireplaces as follows:
1. Living room (stack 1) - open fire place
2. Bedroom above living room (stack 1) - plaster boarded over with air vent
3. Dining room (stack 2) - plaster boarded over with NO air vent
4. Bedroom above dining room (stack 2) open fire place
5. Kitchen (stack 3) - completely blocked off, I think with breeze blocks with NO air vent
6. Bedroom above kitchen (stack 3) - open fire place
We have no fires of any kind and do not intend to have any in the future. All the open fire places are decorative only. All 6 of the chimneys are open at the top, with no caps/cowls.
The problem is, small amounts of rain water are coming down into the open fire places, and I imagine into the blocked ones too. We are also losing a lot of warm air from the house which is being sucked up the chimneys via the open fire places.
So we want to completely block off all 6 chimneys to (a) stop water coming down and (b) stop the warm air escaping.
The advice we have had from a roofer who is a family friend is to remove the chimney pots (we don't want them any more and they are a bit wobbly so a danger in high winds), and seal all the stacks at the tops. Then also place 2 air bricks in each stack (one for each chimney).
Is this correct? What about the 2 chimneys that are blocked at the bottom (dining room and kitchen) - do these need vents putting in once the stacks have been sealed at the top? The last thing we want is a damp problem!
Any help is much appreciated!
Cheers!