Opening a chimney

[Asteriskthetired]

Can anyone advise what this entails? Just moved onto house, fireplace all intact but boarded up, what needs done?

I swapped a gas fire for log burner. Swept chimney, new liner and cowel. Air vent is needed in the room and building regs or heatas engineer for log burner.
For a open fire you could just take the boarding off, sweep the chimney and check it with a smoke bomb and light it, I’ve done this before. Old chimneys can leak smoke.
Get a carbon monoxide detector whatever you do and not from eBay.

It will need to be emptied of crap and lined. Messy job but worth doing. You might need to buy a fire surround and hearth (hearths are surprisingly expensive) if they’ve been removed. And decide if you want an open fire, in which case you’ll need a fire basket, or a stove. Stove companies will usually do the whole job if you wish.

Ours was full of builders rubble and no fewer than 21 jackdaw skeletons.

Could be quite varied, depending on what’s there and what you want to end up with. If you want a stove then you can probably find a company who will do the whole thing for you (can recommend someone in Hampshire). Or you might find some nice original features behind it. Depending on what is there right now then asbestos might be an issue, especially if there is a gas fire installed. Best to talk to a specialist company to try and see what you’re dealing with

Thanks guys, the wood burner is looking like a no go as quoted 900 just to fit liner!! He said I can't just clean out and have open fire but I'm dubious as obviously he wouldn't earn anything from this!! We have full hearth, surround etc... Boarded up chimney and capped chimney.

The question is around why it is boarded up and capped. We had this in an old house and it was because the flue itself had begun to fail (over time the lining of the flue cracks and smoke seeps out into upstairs rooms). Once the flue has failed it needs lining which is why so many people opt for a wood burner. You can line a flue for an open fire but I think it’s a little more complex and people (companies) generally aren’t so keen.

You could try getting a sweep in, which will probably be about £50 maybe. You could also get a camera survey (?£200). But you’ll also have to uncover it - which could be a DIY job. It’s much easier to restore a fireplace to a good looking but unusable state to getting it back to full working order.

Do you have any photos?