Expert: James Ball - 3/13/2010

Question
We are looking at an 80 year old house that has 1ft x 1ft opening at the chimney base in the basement, was this an old ash dump and does it take away from the support of the chimney?

Answer
Hello Rod, not sure what you have there, are there ashes in it? you can usually find a replacement door at your local stone supplier and just cement it in. I would have a local Certified Chimney Sweep www.csia.org, (there you can look up by zip code to find one near you) take a first hand look at what you have they should be able to help.
Hope this helps
James