What to do with this chimney?

11 years ago

While working on our DR, we removed all the plaster and found the chimney. It was covered with plaster 2/3 of the way up, top third was covered with plaster of paris, I assume to patch in where plaster was removed to fill in the smoke stack hole. Is it worth leaving it exposed? If so, how in the world would we get drywall to butt up against it and what to do with that large gap between the floor and the brick? If we just cover it up with drywall, how to we attach it?

Last Wed. I just thought I would take down the old wallpaper and this is what it has evolved to. {{!gwi}}From House
{{!gwi}}From House
{{!gwi}}From House
{{!gwi}}From House

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Comments (6)

aidan_m
11 years ago
Attach drywall panel with liquid nails. This is a common practice over masonry surfaces.

Put that piece on first, before you do the adjacent walls. If you have all the pieces ready at the same time, the walls on either side will hold the chimmeny piece in place while the liquid nails dries.

If you can't work that fast, just use 2 vertical pieces of 2x4's the same height as the room, and screw one on each side, holding the drywall in place as the liq nails dries.
Sharimac
Original Author
11 years ago
Thanks for the tip, especially about putting drywall over brick first. It seems that the common feeling is the brick should get covered up, so that is what we will do.
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Fori
11 years ago
Well, if you LIKE it (and it is kind of neat), then don't cover it!

Have you checked over at the old house forum? I'm sure this comes up every so often. Maybe not as a wallpaper removal project though!
Sharimac
Original Author
11 years ago
Well, something else we did't consider is the fact the chimney is being used as the hot water heater exhaust from down in the basement. If the chimney is lined, that should take care of any fumes, but if it isn't lined, well, that might be something I don't want to think about as I am sure it is just another expense lol.
brickeyee
11 years ago
What are your plans fr the rest of the walls?

New 3-coat plaster? Just plaster the brick with the 2nd and 3rd coats.

Covering the lathe with drywall?
It is a lot easier to strip the lathe and sister new wood to the old studs to get a plane for the drywall.
It is not nearly as forgiving as 3/4 of an inch of plaster in substrate flatness.
Sharimac
Original Author
11 years ago
Right, but although the lath is all rough cut, the studs aren't, so this is a tough decision. We really really don't want to go with a 3/4 inch drywall. The south wall in this room, on the opposite side, has been replastered rather recently is appears. All the other walls on the first floor have 1/2 inch drywall up over the lath. Now for some people it might would bother them if the drywall is not perfectly flat against the studs, this is not going to bother me if it is a LITTLE wavy, although none of the other walls appear that way. If while putting it up we run into some tricky spots, we will adjust. My biggest concern will just to make sure seams are flush and flat. Our second floor is all original plaster, so even though it is painted, you can see all the repairs, but that doens't bother me since I know it is almost 130 years old, so it won't bother me if the walls downstairs are imperfect, just as long as they don't look like my 7 year old niece put them up, lol.