Um, whoa. Master bedroom "discovery" (PIP)

[mrs.jacinthe]

See the gold-finish thingy on the wall in this photo?



The sellers left it behind, just hanging there on the wall.  We didn't think a thing about it.  

Well, last night, we were getting ready for bed and I was all "why are we keeping that ugly thing on the wall?  It's so random.  R, take it down."  So he did.  And THERE'S A VENT FOR A GAS FIREPLACE BEHIND IT.  The vent was blocked with ... dun dun dun ... wadded up plastic grocery bags.



Sooo now we're all "what's the next step?"  What we're not sure of is whether or not it's a shared chimney pipe with the downstairs gas fireplace.  If so, every time we've turned that one on, we've been pumping CO into our master bedroom.  So that's what we're going to rule out next.  If it is not shared, do we just take it out?  Install a new gas fireplace?  WWYD?

If you've had a gas fireplace installed, tell me about it.  I'm wondering if it would be easier to cap the vent pipe and plaster over it or if it would be nicer to put a new fireplace in (oooh, romantic!)

[auntie]

OMG.

I once found what I thought were a couple rags on the floor in the back of my old boathouse. Turns out they were stopping up toilet flanges. Have no idea why a private home's boathouse would need 3 toilets.

I like the idea of a cute little gas burning fireplace in the MBR.

[downtoearth]

I think you can patch appropriately and just continue to use the downstairs fireplace, for, now, but I guess it's good you could tap into that for a fireplace in the Master later. No wonder your inspector didn't find that - it's pretty well hidden. Glad you guys did find it!

[bunnymendelbaum]

Holy dangerous!
I only ever found adult diapers stuffed into the ceiling to catch leaks. Klassy, but not dangerous.

I like the idea of a fireplace in the bedroom too.

[Blueper]

Our inspector had a deal that if he missed something he would come back (and give us a partial refund) and check it out- could you see if yours would do the same?

[susieq]

My vote is for a fireplace in the master!

I would suggest calling your gas company and asking them for advise. They should be able to recommend the appropriate person to determine if it is connected to the downstairs fireplace and what to do with it.

[patches31709]

Maybe this is a stupid question and I apologize in advance in case, but are you user it's a fireplace vent? I ask because the house my dad grew up in had these really old things on the wall kind of like in your picture, and they were old gas lamps, so there was a gas line for them. Could that be what you see?
Again, since I know nothing about gas lines/pipes/fireplaces I apologize if that's a stupid question, but I figured I would throw it out there.

[goaskalice]

Put in a master bedroom fireplace!

[mrs.jacinthe]

Mar 26, 2013 14:43:30 GMT -5 patches31709 said:

Maybe this is a stupid question and I apologize in advance in case, but are you user it's a fireplace vent? I ask because the house my dad grew up in had these really old things on the wall kind of like in your picture, and they were old gas lamps, so there was a gas line for them. Could that be what you see?
Again, since I know nothing about gas lines/pipes/fireplaces I apologize if that's a stupid question, but I figured I would throw it out there.

The vent is something like 4" in diameter.  And at about 5' from the floor.  The associated gas line (which we never noticed until we found the vent - sigh) is about 6 inches from the floor.  Definitely for a stove.  I'm guessing gas lamps were probable in this house at some point, so it's certainly not a bad guess or stupid question.

[jena]

But you know it's not pumping CO into your bedroom because you have a carbon monoxide detector, right? ...Right?

Sent from my HTCEVOV4G using proboards

[mrs.jacinthe]

jena - Yes, we do have a CO detector. In the bedroom. That, and we haven't used the downstairs fireplace since we moved in.

[MrsAxilla]

I looked at the pics before I read the text and I thought you found baggies of weed. Lol.

[IIOY]

Who are these people stuffing plastic bags and adult diapers into parts of their homes?? It makes me feel just a bit better about what I thought was my general lack of handyman knowledge.

[lys]

Have a good plumber check this out. Then decide.

[EloiseWeenie]

I was really hoping those bags had stacks of $100 bills in them.

[aweilba]

Oh my goodness!  How dangerous!  But if you've got the money, I'd totally get a new fireplace.  I freaking love a fireplace (maybe because I don't have any in my house), so I'd see this as an opportunity to get one for the room.