capping a chimney advice

kev1744

hi all,
i recentley had to go on my roof and discovered one of my chimneys had bee capped off previously with mortar. this has since collapsed and now the top of the chimney is open to the elements (and birds)
i was thinking of capping it off by cementing a couple of air bricks with a small patio slab on top of it.
would this work? im hoping the air bricks will allow air flow and the slab will stop water (and birds) getting in?

any ideas?

muckybutt

An ideal cap off, the important thing is to keep the chimney aired.

muskoka

Very cheap & easy to do (provided you will get on the roof)

http://www.chimneycap.co.uk/public.htm

kev1744

yeah c caps do look good. wouldnt work in my case though as there is no chimney pot. i could buy a chimney pot but they all seem really expensive.

kev1744

just out of interest my house has 2 chimney breasts with fireplaces in 2 downstairs rooms. the bedrooms had fireplaces at some stage and have been sealed off.
can anyone tell me if each fireplace has its own flue? or do the living room and bedroom one share a flue and the dining room and bedroom 2 share?
im a little confused as to how it works:o

muskoka

I'd be going down the boot sale for the chimney pot OR would a chimney pot from a garden centre suffice??? Any neighbours got a chimney pot with flowers in it? Advertise on freecycle for a chimney pot?

muckybutt

kev1744 wrote: »

just out of interest my house has 2 chimney breasts with fireplaces in 2 downstairs rooms. the bedrooms had fireplaces at some stage and have been sealed off.
can anyone tell me if each fireplace has its own flue? or do the living room and bedroom one share a flue and the dining room and bedroom 2 share?
im a little confused as to how it works:o

Should be a seperate flue for each fire place so in your case there should be 4 flues / pots, nearly always find that the downstairs fire place will be the rear pot.

muskoka

Muckybutt is correct. I've got 2 chimney stacks, but 4 flues (2 working fireplaces and 2 sealed off).

If you go outside, you likely will see 4 chimney pots when you look at up at your chimney

kev1744

looks like there was 4 chimney pots before but 2 had been sealed off with mortar. hence why i need to reseal the one that has caved in.
just wanted to make sure they didnt share a flue.
think i will go ahead and look at sealing it with a slab on a line of air bricks.
way i see it is if its been sealed off with just a mound of mortar for so many years then surely my way can be no worse?