Yet Another Cycling Forum
General Category => The Knowledge => OT Knowledge => Topic started by: Mrs Pingu on 05 April, 2023, 10:36:41 pm
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Eventually I want to get the fireplace removed and the opening blocked up (yes, with a vent). I'm planning to get the chimney swept before I do so (we've never used it but dog knows when it was last cleaned).
Is there any reason I have to get the back boiler removed or can I get away with leaving it in there?
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I did just that in house I owned in 1973 - I know the current owners and have no reason to believe that it's not still there! Presumably you're going to cap the flue/chimney to stop any birds making a home there?
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Is the back boiler still connected to anything?
Pretty common to leave them in place. If you would still be using the fireplace, you should fill the boiler with concrete (that was done to mine, bit of a job when I had to remove it).
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Up to you. If it was my house, I reckon I wouldn't want redundant equipment going rusty behind the walls.
Could you sell the back boiler as scrap metal? Could it be left in the front garden with a sign on it saying 'FREE'?
As others have suggested, a redundant chimney should at least be capped. Alternatively the stack should be taken down and the hole made good by extending the rafters and covering with roof tiles, otherwise you will be spending money on maintaining a redundant chimney stack / flashing / pointing / brickwork / flaunching, from now on.
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Put in a wood burner. Even if you don't use it, it will probably add more value than it costs.
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Put in a wood burner. Even if you don't use it, it will probably add more value than it costs.
:demon:
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No reason to remove it. The house I bought in the late 80's had originally (early '60's) utilised a back boiler. It was still there when we moved in, behind the then-obligatory gas fire. Never bothered us.
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Cool. There's already a wired cowl on the chimney so that should be fine. Not planning to put anything in the fireplace, just want to block it up, remove the hearth etc that juts into the room and get a bit of floor space back, and maybe it'll be a bit warmer too.
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Personally I would want to remove the back boiler and keep the ventilation that the flue provides once closed with appropriate vents. Will also provide you with a future option should fuel cost madness continue. Is there a bedroom flue as well?
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I don't understand, there will still be a flue which is vented even if I leave the back boiler in. No bedroom fireplace.
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The BB can of course remain where it is however, I just feel it best practice to remove obsolescent kit and clear the deck for any possible future change/options. inset multi fuel fire/burner etc. I realise that it can be spendy. I would not cap off the flue. Interstitial condensation can sometimes become an issue if sealed off and unvented. The question concerning the bedroom was also relating to ventilation. The points made above concerning nesting are well made. My FIL used to have a cottage in Galloway in which one of the flues proved impossible to clear despite many attempts, from decades of nesting material.
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I saw a figure on the internet of something daft like £3k so I thought it could stay there if that is the cost to remove.