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Most chimneys in my neighborhood are open, thus water enters, yet fireplaces are blocked off. What happens to the water? (fedia.io)

submitted 2 years ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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I have a few apparently cast-iron chimneys bedded in concrete. They have no hats on them. I’m not sure how the fireplaces were blocked off but it feels solid, as if they bricked them shut and plastered over it.

Isn’t this a bad idea? They don’t seem to be filling up with rainwater yet it rains quite heavily. I assume the fireplaces have been blocked off for over a decade at least. There must be quite an ecosystem of creepy crawlies going on in there.

So what if I want to open the fireplace back up and install a boiler, sewer vent, wood stove, kitchen range hood, or ventilation system? Can they be restored or must they just be treated as wasted dead space?

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[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 years ago

It is a mystery. All I know is that generations of possums have been raised in my blocked off fireplace without drowning, and there is no sign of any moisture coming from the fireplace to the inside of the house. At this point I'm just assuming there is an invisible force field that keeps rain out but not possums.