Old Fire Place Concerns

I have an old fire place that was used to burn coal. I have some concerns about it. over the weekend I opened it up and stuck my head inside and saw what looked like a piece of wood covering the top of the chimney? If you look in the pictures you can see a piece of what that sits on the grate of the fireplace and runs along side the chimney up to the top of the peice of wood. I am not sure what this is for. could I use that to open up that piece of wood to vent the fireplace? I would really love to brun coal in this fireplace again but am scared as to what might happen. I was hoping someone on here would know what they are looking at and could help me out.

at the top, thats a piece of steel plate as noticed by the rust effect.... the rod going up the side looks as if it pivots at the top and that is a dampner plate up there. pull down or push up that pipe and watch the "wood" open and close??

Looks OK in the pictures, but get a Pro chimney guy to check it, then just burn some paper to check the draft, if all is good, have at it.

BUT, I am not sure what coal is best for a fireplace like that.

Bk

I agree with Poconoeagle, It looks like a fireplace damper.
Fireplace dampers are used to prevent heat loss and also stop cold air from being sucked down the chimney when the fireplace is not in use.
You may simply be able to open the damper by moving the rod up/down as was previously suggested and be able to use the fireplace but what concerns me is that you can't see beyond the damper. You could try to look down from the top of the chimney to see what it looks like and be sure to look for other flue entrances as well as inspect the integrity of the chimney.
Older homes sometimes had a "central flue/chimney" which would have more than one fireplace/stove connected to it, so if your fireplace is on the first floor, I wouldn't be surprised if there once was a stove or fireplace connected to this same flue on the second floor. If there are other old flue entrances, you need to be sure they're sealed off properly.
You may want to have a chimney professional (chimney sweep) or someone knowledgeable to inspect this chimney if you're not sure what to look for as bksaun suggests.
That's a cool looking fireplace by the way.

it appears that it's just a plate someone stuck up there to block off the flue, probably becasue they weren't using it. from what I could see of the brickwork inside the smokeshelf area, it's in VERY good condition. pull the plate down and shine a flashlight up, post pics of what's there, if the rest of the chimney is like that get yourself some bit coal and have a fire. make sure that when you pull that rod out and let the plate down, your head isn't sticking up there, not only the plate will fall, but probably any debris, dead birds etc that have fallen down the chimney on the plate btw, what does it look like from the exterior of the home? post some more pics.

Can you post a picture of the grates? Are they shakers? The chimney looks good, but I don't like that damper. I would find a way to remove it and install a baro (possibly in the chimney itself) and some pipe before attempting to run it. Is the chimney internal to the house or exposed on the outside? How tall is it?

Berlin wrote:it appears that it's just a plate someone stuck up there to block off the flue, probably becasue they weren't using it. from what I could see of the brickwork inside the smokeshelf area, it's in VERY good condition. pull the plate down and shine a flashlight up, post pics of what's there, if the rest of the chimney is like that get yourself some bit coal and have a fire. make sure that when you pull that rod out and let the plate down, your head isn't sticking up there, not only the plate will fall, but probably any debris, dead birds etc that have fallen down the chimney on the plate btw, what does it look like from the exterior of the home? post some more pics.

By the look of that square nut securing the pivot bracket,I believe that it is a very old installation and is the original damper device. that long stick prolly would have been put there from the top down??

the chimney leans a good bit to the left, but is not cracked from what I can tell. I have plans to have some height knocked off the chimney so it isn't leaning any more. also I have no idea how I could possibly get to the top of the chimney to look down it. just to freaking high. I do not have any pictures of the grates sorry. nor can I get a picture after I move "damper plate" I do not currently live there yet and only get to sunbury ever two weeks. I do know the ashes fall straight down to the basement. that fire place is on the 1 st floor and there are old buckets with coal ash in them down on the basement floor. the bottom of the fireplace comes out and I could look down. I was to scared to move that pole but maybe now ill try in a few weeks.

as for as I know there is no other old or non existent fireplaces that would of tied into that one the second or third floor. the hot water heater and stupid gas boiler tie in the chimney in the basement. Ive been told the chimney has two flues.

i guess I should really call some chimney sweep to let me know what the deal is. I just hate spending money, especially when I don't have much ... carrying to mortgages now 2 heat bills yada yada yada ....

here is one more pic of the outside of the house, you can see how tall the chimney is how much it leans. I also see something that looks like wood on the top of the chimney? im not sure.
thanx for all the responses sorry if I missed some questions.

BrockWilt wrote:that fire place is on the 1 st floor and there are old buckets with coal ash in them down on the basement floor. the bottom of the fireplace comes out and I could look down. I was to scared to move that pole but maybe now ill try in a few weeks.

as for as I know there is no other old or non existent fireplaces that would of tied into that one the second or third floor. the hot water heater and stupid gas boiler tie in the chimney in the basement. Ive been told the chimney has two flues.

Is there a thimble in the basement near the ash cleanout? If so, that's the place to put a real central heating appliance. If there is no second flue, I would dummy up the fireplace and run a boiler through it from the basement. A fireplace, while reasonably attractive, is a lousy way to heat a home. Especially a monster like that.

i would guess that the gas boiler flue runs on the right side in the photo's right? switching from coal or oil to natural gas has caused many chimneys to lean like that; the high acidic moisture content combined with lower flue temps cause the lime-based mortar to expand around the flue of the gas appliance especially on unlined chimneys. the chimney isn't leaning that much, I wouldn't worry at all about taking off any of the height especially if you didn't plan on rebuilding it to it's current height.

coaledsweat wrote:

BrockWilt wrote:that fire place is on the 1 st floor and there are old buckets with coal ash in them down on the basement floor. the bottom of the fireplace comes out and I could look down. I was to scared to move that pole but maybe now ill try in a few weeks.

as for as I know there is no other old or non existent fireplaces that would of tied into that one the second or third floor. the hot water heater and stupid gas boiler tie in the chimney in the basement. Ive been told the chimney has two flues.

Is there a thimble in the basement near the ash cleanout? If so, that's the place to put a real central heating appliance. If there is no second flue, I would dummy up the fireplace and run a boiler through it from the basement. A fireplace, while reasonably attractive, is a lousy way to heat a home. Especially a monster like that.

im not sure what a thimble is? and there is no duct work for the house only radiators. there are two flue's

Berlin wrote:i would guess that the gas boiler flue runs on the right side in the photo's right? switching from coal or oil to natural gas has caused many chimneys to lean like that; the high acidic moisture content combined with lower flue temps cause the lime-based mortar to expand around the flue of the gas appliance especially on unlined chimneys. the chimney isn't leaning that much, I wouldn't worry at all about taking off any of the height especially if you didn't plan on rebuilding it to it's current height.

yeah im pretty sure gas boiler runs on the right side.

well there are bricks on the top of the chimney that are loose and our neighbors said the the old owner was cited three to four times about the chimney and did nothing about it. also 1 brick has fallen off during a rain storm and smashed a car in the bed and breakfast parking lot next to our house. the bed and breakfast people say that at least four bricks have fallen off the top of the chimney.

so im thinking the city doesnt like the leaning chimney so I thought id lower it so it doesnt lean and then I would get rid of the loose bricks at the top by doing that as well. or if the city says the chimney is fine should I just have the top re mortared and let it lean?

If bricks are falling you should do something. It looks like you will need most of that height to meet the 10'X2' rule. That will take a pro.

A thimble is where the stovepipe goes into the masonry of the chimney. Typically a clay pipe cemented in the wall.

coaledsweat wrote:If bricks are falling you should do something. It looks like you will need most of that height to meet the 10'X2' rule. That will take a pro.

A thimble is where the stovepipe goes into the masonry of the chimney. Typically a clay pipe cemented in the wall.

what is the 10x2 rule?

what do you mean by stove pipes.

all I know is the boiler and the hot water heater vent from the basement and the fireplace vents from the first floor

our neighbors said the the old owner was cited three to four times about the chimney and did nothing about it.

Citations and such are public record and you could probably get a copy of them from the code people so you can figure out what they (code enforcement) believe the problem to be. Of course, you'll run the risk that they will use that opportunity to cite you as well but since they are aware of the problem, it's probably only a matter of time before they do but if you convince them you are being pro-active on it, they might cut you a break.

I'd be concerned that the plate in there is some type of structural support/wedge given the bend in the chimney. You may very well find bricks on top of it.

In the meantime, I would definitely barricade the fall zone area off so no bricks fall on someone's head.