Help & Advice Needed for Unusual Problem.

[Tonji]

Last night I was awoken by a strange sound, but thought nothing of it & went back to sleep. However this morning I distinctly heard the same sound again. It sounded like something falling within the boarded up fireplace, this occurred a few more times throughout the morning. Now I’ve become obsessed in finding out what it is. I’ve spent  the afternoon worrying what it is, all sorts of thoughts have been spinning around my brain. I’ve even placed a drinking glass up against the wall to listen for signs of life, but nothing.

Has a bird fallen down the chimney & is now trapped & desperately trying to escape. Ditto for squirrels & other small mammals. Is my chimney stack slowly crumbling in on its self.

I really don’t want to open up the fireplace, but maybe I’ll have to. I’m not sure I can put up with something living in the fireplace.

Any advice or thoughts will be much appreciated.


Tonji.

[stallyon]

it'll either be:

bricks - in which case you need to get it looked at
loose tiles - in which case you need to get it looked at
animals - in which case you need to get it looked at
santa - in which case you need to get it looked at

[ayrshireChris]

I had a similar problem recently. My fireplace is not boarded up and it has one of those living flame gas fires in it. Anyway, i came home from work one day and there was some small pieces of rubble scattered all round the fireplace. There had been a strong wind that day so i thought nothing much of it.
This continued for a couple of days until my missus insisted that i get someone round to check it.
Anyway, in between me looking up a chimney repair place and them turning up, we were sitting quietly watching a film one saturday night, when a massive scraping sounds occured followed what can only be described as a 'fwhumph'
I looked at the (thankfully switched off) fireplace to see a very large, very stunned pigeon lying on the coals.
I carried him outside to let him go, but he was knackered. I called him Lenny, put him in an empty beer box i had handy with some comfy bedding and some bird seed and left him in the porch. Sadly he died during the night.

i got the cold after that and was worried i had bird flu, but i'm ok now.

[TightEnd]

Calling Sark, this thread needs you!


seriously, look for Chimney engineers or whatever chimney sweeps are called in the Yellow pages these days....they'll sort you out

[Tonji]

I starting to think it is a bird, after listening all afternoon, I can hear an occasional flutter. Gonna have to plan a rescue operation. If I find its Santa, I'm gonna be pi$$ed off.

[Rod Paradise]

If it's a bird you need to have the fireplace well netted in (use old sheets or something) - we once had a jackdaw fall down the chimney, the dog then chased it through the house, the jackdaw deposited soot all over the house.

[b4matt]

Ok mate... the builders opinion... 'this is gonna cost ya'

Firstly is your chimney pot capped, has it got a metal cage over it or is it open?

What was the weather doing last night?

How long has it been sealed up?

Usually from my experience, this noise is caused by heavy rain loosening the soot build up on the chimney sides and it falling down the chimney onto the closure plate. It's usually so noisy because you probably have a vent opening where it's been sealed off in the room. However it is also the time of years that crows are nesting and there chicks are only a week or 2 of hatching...

Good luck mate...

[Dewi_cool]

If it's a bird you need to have the fireplace well netted in (use old sheets or something) - we once had a jackdaw fall down the chimney, the dog then chased it through the house, the jackdaw deposited soot all over the house.

was it an albino jackdaw?

[bolt pp]

it'll either be:

bricks - in which case you need to get it looked at
loose tiles - in which case you need to get it looked at
animals - in which case you need to get it looked at
santa - in which case you need to get it looked at

bricks-get it looked at

loose tiles-get it looked at
 
small animals -get a bbq going

santa-try and get the sack off him.

[Robert HM]

stallyon - get him looked at         quick

[stallyon]

stallyon - get him looked at         quick

hahaha you are the funniest poster of this thread...oh sorry I am now i guess 

[Rod Paradise]

If it's a bird you need to have the fireplace well netted in (use old sheets or something) - we once had a jackdaw fall down the chimney, the dog then chased it through the house, the jackdaw deposited soot all over the house.

was it an albino jackdaw?

No

[RED-DOG]

What happened in the end FFS?

[booder]

Good bumpage Mr Dawg