Interior chimney wall deterioration
3/12/2012 at 7:35:30 PM
We live in a 100 year old home with a fireplace and chimney from main floor up through second floor. On the second floor in one of the bedrooms the chimney wall is covered with plaster and painted. At at one time was in excellent repair.
In 2003 we replaced the old FAG furnance with a new energy efficient one. The old furnace was vented through the chimney - the new furnace is newly vented out the side foundation through a pipe. The chimney is no longer heated and therefore is quite cold and condensation forms on the inside wall in the bedroom and is staining and lifting the plaster and paint off the covering of the chimney wall.
We have checked that the chimney/roof around it is not leaking and we have actually capped the chimney as we are currently not using the fireplace, the attic above is dry - so we are confident that it is not water coming from outside.
What can we do to remedy this situation?
3/14/2012 at 12:17:18 PM
Hi Elizabeth, The real answer is that you have to insulate the wall somehow to stop the cold from coming through. That would be a lot of work as the entire wall / chimney shaft should be done, not just the room where the problem is.
A temporary solution may be to just increase the heating & ventilation in that room - one of those small ceramic heaters may work. This will ensure that the plaster wall stays warm and any excess humidity is removed. Once the wall is dried out, you can do whatever patching and painting is required.
Good Luck with it!
Jim Kuzma
Kettleby Handyman Services
3/15/2012 at 12:37:50 AM
I would agree with Jim; however I have had many calls in this field, and if you box in the chimney this leaves humidity, and sweat.
With Clay brick it is worse; If you cut in a few Metal Vents to allow the chimney to breath from the outside this will help more then you would think.
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