Home Improvement → [Masonry] There is an ash pit in my basement but there is not a fireplace

Hi,

I found an ash pit in my basement but I do not have a fireplace in the house. By doing some investigation it looks like the hot water tank is using, what might have been the fireplace chimney, as the HWT chimney. The HWT exhaust pipe goes into the basement concrete wall just 2 feet above the ash pit door.

Would it be possible to reopen the fireplace by relocating the HWT exhaust?

Depending on how old your house is that chimney could have originally been used for a coal furnace that was located in the basement. Many of those had a clean out like this below where the flu entered the chimney because much soot was created by burning coal and it was easier and safer to have a place like this to clean it out of the chimney instead of having to remove the flu to do it.

Do you have a place upstairs were a fireplace could have been? If so, and you take the proper precautions is no reason why you couldn't re-create the fireplace. You will have to have the chimney thoroughly inspected and maybe even get a permit to do the work depending on where you live.

You didn't make it clear if you have a chimney or not.

I know several homes (the last three I have lived in) that have a dedicated chimney for heat/water heater. The fireplace was separate. This was 50s/60s homes.

It might be quite common, but I have not seen fossil fuel appliances venting into a chimney for a fireplace. Maybe they do-I just haven't seen it.

I have a house from 1959, never had a fireplace, always had oil heat going to a masonary chimney. i have one of those doors, they are for when i sweep my chimney to remove the soot

That chimney has a liner in it.. to undo that liner would waste a couple hundred dollars in material. Your chimney may not be in the best condition, which is why a liner is usually installed.

Not enough information otherwise to know if your chimney can support wood burning.

-j

I also think that was an oil furnace chimney at one time.
Do you see any other evidence of a hidden fireplace to reopen? Fireplaces are quite large and it would surprise me if you had not previously noticed the missing space.

yeah my house has always been oil heated, in the 90s the former home owner had the chimney relined with a flexible liner and had the clay liner shattered

We have same thing. 1952 vintage house build.
Located at base of chimney, below where gas funace and hot water heater vents. It is a trap such that any animals (Don't be surprised if you find skeletons behind the door) don't go directly into the furnace if they fell into the chimney.
Once we changed to high efficiency furnace, they put a metal liner in chimney....and some sort of vented cap at top of chimney.... so there is less that can get into the chimney, but it does look like you've had some water fill up inside the trap...

Its part of the chimney, for some reason there was a time when they installed a cleanout for inspection purposes. What concerns the hell out of me is the amount of crap that is leaking out of the plate. Your chimney is leaking, the liner tiles may be broken, the mortar eaten away, and or the bricks have cracked.

The good news is someone actually installed a chimney liner, likely when the furnace was upgraded. Anything above 70% efficient should have a liner anyways or the exhaust gases cool inside the chimney condensing and leading to the issues listed above. Going back in time for a second, back in the 90's when people stated replacing 20 or 30 year old furnaces with higher efficiency ones, unscrupulous contactors would skip the liner (save them supply and labour costs, boosts profit). The reduced heat and increased condensation would rot the chimneys out very fast. Homeowners which upgraded to direct vent systems (removing the need for the chimney) but kept only their hot water tanks connected had the same problem since the flue was greatly oversized for the appliance.

Long post but the cleanout is fine, you likely don't have the fireplace (if you did you would see the bulk of it on the outside of your house anyways). Since winter is coming I would suggest you give the chimney a good look, and make repairs to ensure external water isn't leaking into it.