What does it take to wall up a fireplace?

[mrFinpgh]

In my current dining room, there is a non-functional gas fireplace.  The chimney is capped and the flue is blocked off at the bottom.  The whole thing is brick.

I'd like to remove the tiled hearth and the mantel, and just wall over this whole area.  Not remove the brick, but cover it.  Either with drywall or plaster.

What I'm not clear on is what needs to happen for this to work out. I've done some research on it and I run across a lot of stuff suggesting that I need to put a vent of some sort in there because some moisture or humidity can still accumulate in that space.

Can I just attach drywall to the fireplace and tape it?  Furring strips/tapcons?    expanded metal lath+plaster? 

Are there any code considerations I'm ignoring?

Thanks,
Adam

 

[tjbnwi]

As long as the flue is seal as you stated fur then cover the brick and firebox with XPS, seal/tape seams drywall and finish.

Tom

 

[antss]

muscle  [big grin]

 

[Kev]

You want a permanent seal on the gas pipe ... don't leave a tap in there. If you can, best is to get the gas plumbing completely removed !!

 

[Holmz]

Depending on the flue and the flashing you may want a vent and/or fan to prevent mould.

 

[mrFinpgh]

As long as the flue is seal as you stated fur then cover the brick and firebox with XPS, seal/tape seams drywall and finish.

Tom

Thanks, Tom.  Good stuff.  I hadn't even thought about putting insulation on the firebox. 

Thanks,
Adam

 

[mrFinpgh]

You want a permanent seal on the gas pipe ... don't leave a tap in there. If you can, best is to get the gas plumbing completely removed !!

The pipe is embedded in the concrete.  But, it is disconnected completely from the gas line.  There's about 8" between the line in the basement below and where the pipe ends.

Thanks,
Adam

 

[mrFinpgh]

Depending on the flue and the flashing you may want a vent and/or fan to prevent mould.

How would I determine whether this would make sense?

Thanks,
Adam

 

[Holmz]

Depending on the flue and the flashing you may want a vent and/or fan to prevent mould.

How would I determine whether this would make sense?

Thanks,
Adam

I dunno, but we had a walled up chimney, and mould arrived.
A vent was put in and a lot of work on flashing.

I would put in a fan, even if you never use it. And a vent.
You can always run the fan after rain.

Maybe you could temporarily wall it up and monitor is for moisture and mould?
And then in a few months you would know what to do?

 

[mrFinpgh]

I'll have to see what my chimney/fireplace guy says about it. 

It won't be inaccessible, so if I need to put a small vent in down the road, that shouldn't be an issue.

Thanks,
Adam

 

[rizzoa13]

Remove the chimney above the roofline and patch it back in with shingles and then Sheetrock over it.

 

[mrFinpgh]

No can do.

a. Flat roof w/ membrane covering
b. Chimney is 'shared' with adjoining house.  They probably wouldn't like it if I did that

 

[Cheese]

Whoops...I've done the same thing, removed a chimney to reinstall a refrigerator...that's a trade-off worth considering. The gain in square footage is definitely worth the effort.

 

[Kev]

As long as the flue is seal as you stated fur then cover the brick and firebox with XPS, seal/tape seams drywall and finish.

Tom

Thanks, Tom.  Good stuff.  I hadn't even thought about putting insulation on the firebox. 

Thanks,
Adam

Good thing .. also remember to block the pipe for insects, vermin, etc.

 

[rizzoa13]

That's a shame. You should at least then cap your chimney flue from the top so water doesn't make its way in. You can do many different things to cap it, even galzanized sheet stock. Just make sure there's pitch to it to shed water.

I'd block it in and then pour a little concrete crown up top shed the water.

 

[mrFinpgh]

I had the chimney capped (on my side) last year.  So that should probably be covered.

Thanks, everyone, for your input. 

Best,
Adam

 

[mrFinpgh]

In case someone else googles for this at some point:

I finally got in touch with the guy who worked on my fireplaces. He said no need for the vent.  That's my situation, though. 

Best,
Adam