Plastering over an unused fireplace - any advice?

wisdenfan

I recently bought an apartment in north-west London (1st floor apartment in a 4 story building), built in the 1930s. In my living room, there is an unused fireplace, which has been boarded up using a black wooden board (as you can see from the picture).



The chimney flue at the top of the building has been capped. Initially I thought the fireplace structure is made up of solid material (like stone or brick). On closer inspection, I realized that it is made of wood, which is fixed to the wall using screws (See the image below):



Given that we have no real use for this empty fireplace, I was thinking of taking out the wooded fireplace and the black board, use some plasterboard to cover the gaping hole, and then just plaster/paint the whole space, essentially turning it into a flat wall. Is this something feasible to do? Do you foresee any issues with this approach?

Any advice on this will be highly appreciated.

FreeBear

You can indeed just plug the hole and plaster over it.. However, you do need to have a small hole near the bottom to allow some air to circulate up the flue - This will help to prevent damp forming and giving rise to issues further down the line.

user1977

Also usually recommended that the top end is ventilated rather than being sealed off with a cap.

wisdenfan

Thank you very much for your replies. Much appreciated!

@FreeBear, yes, I was planning to install a small vent at the bottom of the existing boarded up portion. I hope that will keep the damp issue at bay by providing some air circulation.

@user1977, that's what exactly the surveyor told me when I did a building survey before buying the property. It was confirmed to be the responsibility of the management company, and I've actually contacted them regarding this, but haven't received any reply yet.