Large hole in chimney over fireplace

[Frustrated18]

Hi, I recently bought a house with a fireplace. The prior owner has punched hole through the chimney and fire block and flue to stick a stovepipe in. It is a rough opening and there looks to be singed plywood in the space between the brick and the concrete block. It's a mess and I know virtually nothing about chimney repair. I don't even know what questions to ask a repairman. I had a stonemason look at it and he told me I had to tear the whole thing down. My handyman said he could fix it with some mortar and brick. Another contractor there told me I need to get it realined and then I should be good to go.
It's ugly, a huge source of heat loss, and of course renders the fireplace unusable. Where do I start? It's a two flue chimney, on the exterior of the house, the fireplace is on the second story (split level Ranch), not more than 15 years old. I would like to restore the fireplace to working condition.

 

[Ctwoodtick]

I’m not a chimney pro, so I’ll just let you know what I would do. The pros on here will chime in soon. I’d have a CSIA (chimney safety institute of America) chimney sweep do a inspection of the area you described as well as a video inspection of inside of chimney to make sure there’s not any internal damage that you can’t see from the outside. An internal inspection by a qualified pro can also reveal how much creosote may have been created by the previous owner. For a csia pro, go to csia website. There’s a link for homeowners on the site that allows you to put your zip code in to search for a pro near you.

 

[Frustrated18]

Thought picture might help.

 

[begreen]

The plywood under the brick is suspicious. That may be the mason's concern. See if there is an NFI pro in your area to evaluate. If the fireplace is improperly constructed then a freestanding stove there may be the safest option.
https://www.nficertified.org/public/find-an-nfi-pro/

 

[double-d]

This is a very small fireplace opening, you will be getting very little heat from it, not that fireplaces produce much heat anyway.
Not sure how they got the Tee Connector in there, but the removal of the Class A pipes need to be removed. Then getting behind the brick wall to rebuild the chimney. The chimney will need a stainless liner with insulation. Again not sure how large the inside of the chimney flue is, but most fireplaces will need square or rectangle liners, but depending on the fireplace opening and height of this chimney, maybe a correct sized round liner might work.

 

[Wolves1]

I have feeling the guy that had the house before you was starting a project to install a wood stove.

 

[sportbikerider78]

If it was me, I'd totally demo that and build what I want it to be. A small, crappy-built, fireplace is worthless to home value any way. Tossing a 1/2 ton of bricks in the trash is nothing to cry over either.

 

[Highbeam]

Plywood under the brick. Looks like a veneer job. I was very happy to demolish a masonry fireplace and chimney for a proper piped install of a real woodstove.

 

[bholler]

Guys it is very normal to have a combustible wall between the chimney and the face of the fireplace. There is not nessecarily anything wrong with it. I am sure there are mulitple options to make it work either as an open fireplace or with a stove.

 

[begreen]

Guys it is very normal to have a combustible wall between the chimney and the face of the fireplace. There is not nessecarily anything wrong with it. I am sure there are mulitple options to make it work either as an open fireplace or with a stove.

Question is did it have enough brick between it and the flue. Were the combustibles 2" clear of the brick?

 

[Ashful]

Begreen or bholler, educate us. NFI vs CSIA?

 

[bholler]

Question is did it have enough brick between it and the flue. Were the combustibles 2" clear of the brick?

Yes you are absolutly correct. And there probably isnt enough clearance. But there are still options even if there isnt.

 

[Squirrel1410]

The black soot on the bricks may point to a draft problem with the fireplace. That’s probably why the previous owner was trying to install a stove, if I had to guess.

 

[maple1]

Hi, I recently bought a house with a fireplace. The prior owner has punched hole through the chimney and fire block and flue to stick a stovepipe in. It is a rough opening and there looks to be singed plywood in the space between the brick and the concrete block. It's a mess and I know virtually nothing about chimney repair. I don't even know what questions to ask a repairman. I had a stonemason look at it and he told me I had to tear the whole thing down. My handyman said he could fix it with some mortar and brick. Another contractor there told me I need to get it realined and then I should be good to go.
It's ugly, a huge source of heat loss, and of course renders the fireplace unusable. Where do I start? It's a two flue chimney, on the exterior of the house, the fireplace is on the second story (split level Ranch), not more than 15 years old. I would like to restore the fireplace to working condition.

To working condition - for heating purposes, or only for ambiance purposes?

 

[Frustrated18]

To working condition - for heating purposes, or only for ambiance purposes?

The house has central heat, it has Empire gas heater for backup, and the large wood stove on the first floor with its own safe chimney flue. Fireplace would be for occasional use only. I'm afraid that if it's not made safe, some one will throw a duralog in there someday and burn the house down...

 

[Frustrated18]

Yes you are absolutly correct. And there probably isnt enough clearance. But there are still options even if there isnt.

Such as?

 

[bholler]

Such as?

An insert or stove with an insulated liner. Or an insulated liner big enough for the open fireplace but like mentioned before the smoke staining makes me wonder about the design of the fireplace.