Fixing a chimney

[Anonymous]

Having had a some useful advice on the lime render question, I don't suppose anyone has tips for getting concrete out of a stone chimney?

One of the chimneys in my crofthouse was "converted" to allow the use of an oil Rayburn many years back by the simple expedient of dropping a collapsible liner down the chimney and then backfilling with buckets of concrete.

I'd like to convert the Rayburn back to solid fuel, but my local plumber/solid fuel expert says I'd need to open the chimney up again - and there's no way he's volunteering for that job!

The chimney is of dressed granite with lime mortar. The liner is the diameter of the Rayburn flue while the original chimney is much bigger but now solid with concrete from top to bottom.

Any thoughts on this one?

 

[Anonymous]

Short of dropping a pig down there with tungsten carbide tusks, I don't know what to suggest. Concrete's an absolute b4stard to shift. This would be one of those jobs where I'd try to learn to live with it as it is, I fear.

 

[Anonymous]

What you are presented with is the typical act of non-reversible vandalism on historic houses.

Your advisers are right in suggesting that there will not be adequate updraught due to the diameter of your present flue, unless there is some way that it can be fan assisted. I do not know.

What I do know is, that it is near impossible to remove that horrible stuff unless you dismantle the lot and start again.

 

[Anonymous]

Is this one of those C*CO type linings - carried out by contractors (a franchise I think) who fill the chimney with an inflatabe balloon? Then it's a lightweight cementy stuff pumped in from the top.

 

[Anonymous]

Sadly not. It's a wire coil, clad with some sort of shiny metal foil, suspended from the top of the chimney while concrete was tipped in.

I know it's concrete because I've had a look from both top and bottom (very hard, chunks of aggregate). I know it was bucket loads because my neighbour watched them carrying buckets of concrete up a ladder and then tip them down the chimney.

 

[Anonymous]

I'd prefer not to live with it as oil prices keep rising. We use less oil than when we first moved in (solar water heating, improved insulation, more use of wood fires) but despite that our oil bills are higher than they were.

I also have access to good (and renewable) supplies of birch and oak, plus I have no problems with stoking fires as I don't have a modern lifestyle or a proper job to go to!

And it's a former solid fuel Rayburn Royal with a wick burner, so easily converted back again.

 

[Anonymous]

Hmmm.

What diameter is it?

 

[Anonymous]

Ah, b*****!

Taking the chimney down is not an option - it's now in the middle of the house and it's the centre of a granite stone wall.

As I can easily stand inside the other chimneys, maybe I'll have to start chipping my way down as well as up. Anyway care to join me and meet me in the middle? All you need to bring is your club hammer and cold chisel! <IMG SRC="http://www.periodproperty.co.uk/discussing/smileys/smile.gif" BORDER=0 ALT="">

 

[Anonymous]

5in diameter.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the offer, I would love to (and all that c**p).

All I can offer is words of comfort and say that you are definetely a brave of the braves for chiseling that lot out.

Try to find out if you can adapt a supplementary aid to improve updraught, It may be possible if you speak to proper heating and ventilation people.

 

[Anonymous]

.............alternatively an act of terrorism may be totally justified here.

Hijack the lot that done the deed, give them hammers an chisels, no water or food and tell them to get on with it.

 

[Anonymous]

I wander if you could make a tool to drill it out to a more reasonable diameter?

A Diamond core drill with a guide fitted into the centre to keep it on track and a very large stack of extensions should have no problems opening it out surely?

How long is it?

G.

 

[Anonymous]

Nice thought George, he would need a north sea oil drill to get through that lot.

The chances are that most if not all of the void is back filled, which means it could be 7 or 8 inch thick if not more.

I wish him the best.

 

[Anonymous]

Interestingly, I've just found a handwritten note that a previous owner of the house wrote for someone who was doing a spot of house-sitting. The note is instructions (and diagrams) for operating a solid-fuel stove with back-boiler that was hooked up to the exact same flue.

Checking the date on the note, the date of installation on the boiler and the neighbour's recollection of when the chimney was filled with concrete, indicates the chimney was lined about five years before the oil boiler was put in.

I thought we'd need a larger flue than 5in (and this is the advice we've been given), but the existing flue was used with a solid fuel stove in the past.

Any further thoughts on this appreciated.