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To cap or not to cap?

Does what it says on the tin
Jopo1
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To cap or not to cap?

#419817

Postby Jopo1 » June 15th, 2021, 10:27 pm

Hi,
We're going to block off a fireplace internally. We plan to have a vent to allow airflow to prevent damp building up

Should we cap off the chimney pot to prevent dead pigeons falling in and stinking the room out? It will also minimise rain ingress.

A number of people i know have blocked a fireplace internally, not capped the chimney and had no issues decades down the line.

Due to the height of the house, we need scaffolding to get anyone to do this one small job and it will cost £400, so not a small decision

Thanks

Jopo1

stevensfo
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Re: To cap or not to cap?

#419957

Postby stevensfo » June 16th, 2021, 1:31 pm

Jopo1 wrote:Hi,
We're going to block off a fireplace internally. We plan to have a vent to allow airflow to prevent damp building up

Should we cap off the chimney pot to prevent dead pigeons falling in and stinking the room out? It will also minimise rain ingress.

A number of people i know have blocked a fireplace internally, not capped the chimney and had no issues decades down the line.

Due to the height of the house, we need scaffolding to get anyone to do this one small job and it will cost £400, so not a small decision

Thanks

Jopo1


Although I've never done any work myself, our house's roof is pretty terrifying as well. We needed scaffolding for the steeper half of our roof and I think the cost of the scaffolding was almost as much as the new tiles! Not 100% sure what 'capping' entails, but is it not possible to do this from inside? i.e. push something up the chimney, a large ball of mosquito netting or filters to allow air to pass, or whatever is deemed suitable for the capping?

Steve

pje16
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Re: To cap or not to cap?

#419973

Postby pje16 » June 16th, 2021, 2:15 pm


richlist
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Re: To cap or not to cap?

#419975

Postby richlist » June 16th, 2021, 2:16 pm

There are lots of different ways of putting a cap on the top of your chimney stack.
We have a metal cap that's held on by a giant clip, similar to a car radiator hose clip. All that's needed to fit it is a screwdriver to do up the clip. It does'nt block the chimney completely but stops rain & birds whilst still allowing ventillation. They sell them everywhere.

88V8
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Re: To cap or not to cap?

#420117

Postby 88V8 » June 17th, 2021, 10:50 am

If you still have the chimney pot, a clay cap is perhaps the easiest. No need to attach it, just pop it in.
Like this pepper pot https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/124771684821?hash=item1d0cf8d1d5:g:30EAAOSwox9gx0-z
or this ridge tile https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/154492980429?hash=item23f87fcccd:g:apMAAOSwiWhgj~e0

But yes, I would definitely fit a cap. If you get damp in the flue, it can bring soot stains through into the room, which is a right pain.

At our previous house I used a ladder and a home-made wooden cat ladder to reach the chimneys, but that was only a normal two-storey house.

V8

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Re: To cap or not to cap?

#420346

Postby Wizard » June 18th, 2021, 8:34 am

My experience is that you tend to get birds down the chimney when it has been converted to a gas fire or vent a boiler in the past, the birds sit on the chimney are overcome by fumes and fall in. But if you do not cap you will get all sorts of crap dropping down it. To be honest I would not want an uncapped chimney whether the fire is used or not.

sg31
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Re: To cap or not to cap?

#420419

Postby sg31 » June 18th, 2021, 11:10 am

Jopo1 wrote:Hi,
We're going to block off a fireplace internally. We plan to have a vent to allow airflow to prevent damp building up

Should we cap off the chimney pot to prevent dead pigeons falling in and stinking the room out? It will also minimise rain ingress.

A number of people i know have blocked a fireplace internally, not capped the chimney and had no issues decades down the line.

Due to the height of the house, we need scaffolding to get anyone to do this one small job and it will cost £400, so not a small decision

Thanks

Jopo1


Capping the chimney is a simple job and well worth doing.

£400 may sound a lot of money for such a simple job but then again when was the last time you had the chimney stack inspected? As a builder in Brighton I often had reason to be on the roof of older properties, the chimneys were usually in need of maintenance work. The haunching round the pots usually needed replacing, pointing needed attention, render had blown or flashings had split. Those were the good ones.

It's not just damp into the roof space or bedroonms you have to worry about, there's a big heavy lump of brickwork sitting there that probably hasn't had any attention for decades. The flue gases can seriously damage the strength of the bricks. I've taken bricks out of chimneys thet I could crumble in my hand. In some extreme cases I've had to take whole stacks down before they fell down.

If yours is an old property for your own peace of mind spend the money, make sure everything up there is ok and if it isn't get it fixed. I would bet no one else has bothered for a very long time.

88V8
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Re: To cap or not to cap?

#420426

Postby 88V8 » June 18th, 2021, 11:20 am

As SQ31 said.... here https://www.periodproperty.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=16883 is an interesting thread on the endlessly useful Period Property Forum.

V8


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