Fireplace demo – what to do with chimney
Hi all,
As part of constructing a new kitchen in the former family room I have demolished the interior “cosmetic” portion of my fireplace. The chimney itself has to stay as it also serves the furnace and hot water heater. So I have no plans to demolish the exterior portion of the chimney.
I have two questions.
First, any suggestions on how to seal of the flue from the inside? I plan to stuff fibreglass insulation in the fireplace cavity, then frame it over. But should I do anything to seal off the flue before adding the fibreglass, or just make sure its closed tightly and insulate the cavity?
Second question, what should I do with the cavity inside the liner, which is a masonry liner? Should I just leave it be? Fill it with anything? I have this vision of dropping a couple of garbage bags full of stryrofoam chips down it LOL! And as for the top of the chimney, should I seal it in some way to keep out the rain and birds, or should I just leave the current metal chimney cap?
looking forward to your suggestions,
Charles
Replies
Well a bit more info is needed here.
on what floor level are the other appliances relative to this FP?
What size are each of these flues?
Do you mean to say that the appliances and the FP all shared the same flue within the chimney?
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Fireplace is on the main floor of a 2 story house. The furnace and hot water heater are in the basement, pretty much right underneath the fireplace.
There are 2 flues within the chimney - one for the fireplace and one for the furnace and HWH. Furnace and HWH are oil-fired, though I am thinking of converting to electric for the HWH.
I am not sure exactly what size the flues are. I'm not a big fan of being on the roof and have never been up there to measure them. I think the FP one is a little bigger, maybe 12" x 8" or so. The other one is more square, maybe 10" x 8" or 8" x 8".
I hope this clarifies things enough.
Sounds right. I'll have to assume then that the guys who installed the appliances made sure they were sized with the flue right.And since the flues are separate, just seal offthe FP flue. Cut a hunk of foam to fit tight and use spray faom in a can to seal it in place. Then go up on top with a slab of bluestone to set over the top end, making sure that you don't close off the wrong one. This cap is not absolutely necessary but it is always good to keep some of the rain out
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!