1805 Fireplace/ Bread Oven

[DanielM79]

We purchased a home in Salem, Massachusetts built in 1805. It has an oven in the kitchen and 2nd floor room above the kitchen and we don’t quite know how to use it, or if it’s even operable? It looks like the kitchen has openings like the second picture but was bricked in and painted.
I’ve started a small fire with kindling to test it but I’m afraid to start anything bigger until I find out for sure how or if I can use it.

 

[begreen]

Gotta love old homes for the history mysteries they present. Have you had a professional sweep scope out the viability and safety of using this?

 

[Caw]

We had something similar in our house growing up in Massachusetts. It was very pretty but absolutely not safe to use. We ended up just using it as a place for decorations etc.

You should really get a professional out to examine it before lighting any other fires. Lots of guys in your area will have experience with that type of thing given the location. It's not expensive and could literally save your house.

 

[DanielM79]

Gotta love old homes for the history mysteries they present. Have you had a professional sweep scope out the viability and safety of using this?

The house has 6 fireplaces. Two that look like this. We had two others cleaned out. The gentleman said at a glance they looked operational but needed a new liner ( the second floor one had a half used log, and ash in the very bottom ) but he’d have to investigate further. At the time it wasn’t in our budget, so I didn’t ask.