Open chimney
I have a fireplace in my brownstone apartment that has no covers – if you stick your head inside the fireplace, you can see right up to the sky. As you can imagine, rain gets in. I would never want to have a fire, so I have asked the landlord to cover it up. He…
I have a fireplace in my brownstone apartment that has no covers – if you stick your head inside the fireplace, you can see right up to the sky. As you can imagine, rain gets in.
I would never want to have a fire, so I have asked the landlord to cover it up. He wouldn’t go for it.
Do you have any ideas on how I can cover the chimney so no rain gets in? It would have to be temporary so I can remove it when I move out.
I can’t believe anyone would go for a flue over cardboard. I mean, cardboard is just so…elegant.
The place on Irving is called Standard Tinsmith – http://www.standardtinsmith.com.
Is your flue lined? does the building’s boiler vent through the chimney flues? You should get a really good carbon monoxide detector before you decide to cover your chimney.
Yeah, shouldn’t there be a flue damper to keep the wind out? That doesn’t solve the cover problem though.
DIBS, we went to a place in Bushwick somewhere around Irving and Palmetto and ordered it. They make anything out of sheet metal: Counters, etc. I don’t know the name.
This inflatable balloon is supposedly great for insulation/ air infiltration:
http://www.chimneyballoon.us/buychimneyballoon.html
in lieu of the cardboard solution, can’t you just close the flue damper? in any case, it’s surprising to me to hear about all the water damage people have experienced because of rainwater coming into the chimney. my chimney is uncovered, and after living here for two years, i haven’t had any problem with rainwater. the only problem i’ve had is if i have ashes lying around after a recent fire, a windy night will blow them out into the room.
Joe’s solution sounds good. That would keep the rain from coming down from the top. But it probably won’t solve your heat-escaping-out-the-top problem, because air finds little creaky ways to get out.
For that, I’d recommend blocking off the chimney with something removable at each fireplace. I’ve read good things about “chimney balloons” on other sites, but have no firsthand experience with them.
Because uh, in my case, I cut a piece of cardboard to fit the space and then leaned into my fireplace and duct-taped it into the inside of the chimney, right above the point where the fireplace ends. It seems to be preventing the drafts pretty well, and you can’t see it at all unless you happen to be lying (laying?) in the fireplace.
Thanks for the help Joe
I have no clue why they aren’t covering it up, so weird
And yeah, I should probably wait until after Christmas to make any serious changes. Thanks zuffy.
LOL, zuffy!!!
mopar, who’d you use?? I need a rain cap made for the one that my boiler vents through b/c with all the rain last year I started to get a lot of peeling on the upper floor interior against the brick