Air Brick in Chimney breast

Thea

We have a working gas fire in the living room. In the bedroom above was a fire 30+ years ago which has long been closed.


I am about to redecorate the bedroom and have discovered that there is a hole in the brick work of the chimney which has just been covered with a piece a wood and wallpapered over. (The chimney breast is much smaller than that in the living room.)


There are 2 chimney pots so I'm assuming one is for the living room and one is for the bedroom. Neither of them are capped.


So my question, do I really need this hole or can I brick it up since the other chimney for the living room is in working order (and was a sweep was done 2 years ago)?


Thanks for any advice.

EssexExile

You should leave a hole to ventilate the unused flue, & not paper over it. If the pot isn't capped rain can get in & could cause damp. Having said that, we have redundant flues that aren't ventilated & they cause no problems.