Second Home remodel question / old chimney

SDE

Well-known Member
The chimney has not been used in over 20 years. If I never move, I will probably never use it again. I heat with a Spectra Water Furnace. The chimney is in the middle of the house and if I decided to remodel the interior, should I remove the chimney? On the upper level, it is enclosed by sheet rock and paneling, with an interior wall behind it. In the basement it is out in the open.
thank you
Steve
 
If you are sure you will never put in a wood stove or anything I probably would take it out. Just don't do it like my dad did. He tore it out from the bottom up and when he got to the attic just put timber under it and let the stack protrude through the roof and sealed the hole. It's been like that for nearly 50 years and has only leaked recently.
 
I've faced the chimney dilemma a few times, and I still wouldn't be able to say there's a best answer. What do you gain if you remove it? It's a lot of work, and there's no way to do it completely cleanly. If it's made of something other than brick, you only have a disposal situation. If it's brick though, you get a different kind of problem. Brick seems too good to just throw away, and good used brick is somewhat valuable. The trouble is, it's more work than it's worth to clean it (remove the old mortar), but if it's not cleaned, the best you can do is get someone to take it for free. You also have to patch the roof, which can be dicey from a weather tightness standpoint. If you're going to reroof soon after removing the chimney, then it isn't a problem. In fact, it makes the most sense to remove an unneeded chimney right before reroofing. There's a definite advantage to not having to roof around a chimney.

Stan
 
With so many of the high efficiency furnaces and water heaters that direct vent outside I would remove the chimney. As noted before, fixing the hole in the roof may be the biggest hassle.
 
I forgot to mention that the hole in the floor can be much more of a problem to patch than the one in the roof. Framing it and installing the subfloor and underlayment is relatively easy. Matching the existing flooring can fall anywhere from no big deal (the most unlikely outcome), to impossible.

Stan
 
I had an old chimney - right in the middle of the main part of the house.

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When I gutted the place I tore it down to below the floor and hired a brick layer to rebuild it back where it was.

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It makes a nice center piece in what is now the living room.

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This summer my new bride and I are going to add a second story on that part of the house.
I have a new HE furnace and will replace the water heater with a power vented type so will no longer need the metal B vent in the chimney.
So the chimney will become a chase for the cold air return from the new addition.
 
I removed part of my chimney, center of house. I was installing a new roof anyhow. Tore it down to a couple of feet below roof, mortored on cement cap stones.

Then had a mason close the flue opening in my living room. I have natural gas, so I installed vent free gas log set in the fireplace. Came in handy when electric went out for an extended time last winter.
 
Many years ago my Dad and I took out a chimney. He went to the top and knocked the brick loose one by one and dropped them down the chimney. I was in the basement and pulled them out with a hook. All the mess was in the basement.Not much dust that way either.

Areo
 
I've remodeled a house and exposed the brick chimney in the corner of the bathroom. I remodeled the kitchen last summer and exposed the chimney in the kitchen. This house is about 100 years old. That chimney was the one the cook stove used. It was plastered and had wooden dowels. I didn't even paint it. I put poly on the plaster to seal it and left it like that. Looks good with the sage green wall paint. I tend to like things a little rustic.
 
Just depends if you WANT the chimney and extra roof flashings to worry about. My 1800s farmhouse has 5 chimneys. I kind of like them.
 
Son and I removed one in old house he bought It stated about halfway up the 1st story wall just a 2x4 under a brick chimney about 15ft tall started at the top and worked down didn't even need a hammer or anything just crumbled in your hand. Was last used as flue for a gas floor hear main heat for house kind of scary no liner just brick and mortar. was evidence of a fire at one time but son of former owner never knew of one they just was lucky I guess, glad its gone make two small rooms one big one
 
My chimney is the concrete block style. I think that the ceiling on the main floor would be the more difficult repair. I guess I will leave it alone. Less work and less trouble to get into.
Thank you
Sde
 
I have an old rental house with chimney in center. I removed chimney, all the way to the basement, moved a wall, made a bedroom large enough for a king size bed.

WHAT A MESS, GOOD THING THE HOUSE WAS EMPTY AT THE TIME. In the 40's, there was a coal furnace in basement, then oil. You could tell by the remains inside the chimney.

Actually, I've removed two chimneys when remodeling, both a real mess, both coal, then oil, both homes converted to total electric homes.

For me, it was the right thing to do. I would never do it when someone is living in the house. Way too much of a mess when chimney is in center of house.

I took another block chimney down that was added to the outside of house by cutting the wall ties down and pushing it away from house. Now that job was easy. All the mess was outside. The people who installed the chimney didn't use much of a footer, they ran the wood burner stove pipe throught the window to the chimney outside. Don't really think an insurance company would approve how this job was done.

The house is in the country. The room with woodburner was a living room. It became the new kitchen. The sink was placed under the new window. What makes it really special is every evening at supper time, the deer come out of the woods and eat in the farmers field. Once I say 9 deer. That makes the window special.

This became my second home, in the country. Momma always said, you can take the boy out of the country, just can't take the country out of the boy. She was right.
George
 
I'd remove it, but be ready for a mess.

I did one for a customer where it had been torn down to just below the roof level. There was a metal cover over where the old stove vent had been hooked up. I pulled the cover off and very fine soot poured out like used motor oil. I had 17 5 gallon buckets on hand to haul the old bricks to the truck. It took 13 of them to catch the soot. Talk about a mess!
The mortar was all but gone and the voids filled with soot. It must have rattled out and filled the chimney.
 
You need to consider the aesthetics of your chimney. You may want to repair it to look real enough, even if you don't plan to use it.
 

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