vent in bedroom was boarded up

techmob

Hi

in the small bedroom it seemed there was a fake wall put in, curious as to why it was there and the fact that the wall was cracked and flexing when it shouldn't, we ripped it down

we found that the wall was only dabbed on and it was not studded or supported at all.

anyway we found a vent behind it which was obviously being blocked up with plasterboard.

Visually i can see why this would of been blocked up as it is in a stupid position. because of the way our room is any higher and it would be sat in the loft, however if it was on the front wall of the house it could of gone higher. So as it is it is quite low in the room and not exactly in the corner like most vents

i am not in the habit of blocking vents as i believe they are there for a reason but my partner is not happy with the positioning of it. i don't want to create a new one etc so i am wondering the knock of affects of blocking this up would be. i cannot see any evidence of any problems yet as that would of been blocked up for some time however i want to do things right by this house

here is a picture of it



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ormus

if there are no gas appliances in the room, i would block it up.
in the future, you may have problems with condensation, but very unlikely.

techmob

there is only a radiator in there.

there was never a gas appliance in there so not sure why there would be a vent

it is a 1930's house, does anyone know.

thanks

tony6403

If it is a working vent it should be pulling air through.
You can buy smoke matches (approx £1 ) which give about 20 seconds burn time and you may be able to see if there is any significant ventilation taking place.

WillowCat

Is it a vent into a chimney? You might not see a breast on this side of the wall, it might be on the other?

techmob

no breast in that room.

cheers for the replies

dander

I've got a 1920s house and every upstairs bedroom had vents in the walls. My best guess is that it's because of having open fires in the rooms. I guess standard practice would have been to put them in all bedrooms, even though the smallest one wouldn't have a fireplace. They were very in to the health benefits of fresh air in those days, so they might have just thought it was healthier to have rooms vented - and houses without central heating get much damper, so a vent probably helped with that.

Mine are all blocked up and I've never had any problems. I've just got expanding foam in the gap.

techmob

Hi Dander

how long have you had yours blocked?

thanks

AndersLimpar_2

I have moved into a hosue with vents in each bedroom, they let so much cold air and noise in im going to block them up.

ormus

1930s houses usually had coal fires in each bedroom.
hence the air bricks.

your chimney breast may have been removed at some stage.

dander

Hello!
I moved in here about 5 years ago. One was already blocked then. The other two I filled in as soon as I arrived.