Closing fireplace hole
- Thread starter rookie1
- Start date
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- Mar 15, 2023
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Hi Rookie.
The easiest way would be to chip out some of the plaster around the hole, 3 or 4", or enough to cover the whole of the area where the fire was mounted if the plaster there is in poor condition. A sheet of plasterboard from your local DIY store can be cut to size, fixed in the gap and then skimmed over if you feel confident enough to have a go yourself - I guess you are fairly new to DIY but we all have to start somewhere! That is if you just want a plain wall there rather than anything fancy.....
Two things to bear in mind from my own experience of doing this:
1) Get the chimney swept before you do anything. If your house is anything like mine was, it will not have been swept when converted from coal to a gas fire. Even if it was the chances are there will still be a fair amount of debris up there, but from what I see in your photo it does look as if it needs sweeping. I was shocked by the amount of stuff that came out - old bird's nest, dead slugs, chunks of dried bread (!) as well as soot and general crud. Anything stuck in the chimney can harbour moisture leading to long term problems. Check if the chimney is capped or cowled to prevent rain ingress but allow for ventilation.
2) Fit a vent with an insect screen. There must be airflow up the flue to prevent damp building up.
I assume this is a ground floor room rather than upstairs - when I did mine I decided to get rid of the concrete hearth in front of the fire to fit floorboards for better insulation. This gave me access to the crawl space under the floor, so I fitted airbricks below floor level for a neater finish in the room. I also fitted some insulation board behind the plasterboard other wise there could be a cold spot there. I left a small gap where I could fit a hidden socket for the electric fire I fitted instead of the old gas fire and fixed insulation etc around that also, but you have a handy socket nearby so this probably won't be necessary.
Good luck!
The easiest way would be to chip out some of the plaster around the hole, 3 or 4", or enough to cover the whole of the area where the fire was mounted if the plaster there is in poor condition. A sheet of plasterboard from your local DIY store can be cut to size, fixed in the gap and then skimmed over if you feel confident enough to have a go yourself - I guess you are fairly new to DIY but we all have to start somewhere! That is if you just want a plain wall there rather than anything fancy.....
Two things to bear in mind from my own experience of doing this:
1) Get the chimney swept before you do anything. If your house is anything like mine was, it will not have been swept when converted from coal to a gas fire. Even if it was the chances are there will still be a fair amount of debris up there, but from what I see in your photo it does look as if it needs sweeping. I was shocked by the amount of stuff that came out - old bird's nest, dead slugs, chunks of dried bread (!) as well as soot and general crud. Anything stuck in the chimney can harbour moisture leading to long term problems. Check if the chimney is capped or cowled to prevent rain ingress but allow for ventilation.
2) Fit a vent with an insect screen. There must be airflow up the flue to prevent damp building up.
I assume this is a ground floor room rather than upstairs - when I did mine I decided to get rid of the concrete hearth in front of the fire to fit floorboards for better insulation. This gave me access to the crawl space under the floor, so I fitted airbricks below floor level for a neater finish in the room. I also fitted some insulation board behind the plasterboard other wise there could be a cold spot there. I left a small gap where I could fit a hidden socket for the electric fire I fitted instead of the old gas fire and fixed insulation etc around that also, but you have a handy socket nearby so this probably won't be necessary.
Good luck!