What to do with old fireplace?

[little heathen]

We had a couple layers of insulation board in the front opening, and some shoved in the chimney too. Together they sealed the drafts pretty well. We also insulated around the bottom edge (where brick meets carpet) and put cedar boars in front. Wasps and mice have come up through the bottom of the fireplace, where previous owners wired for an electric insert that we took out. The chimney was a wreck so it's gone and roofed over; there will never be a fire here. Maybe in the future we'll put doors to the exterior here but that's years away.

What would you do with this?

End result should minimize drafts (this has been by far the draftiest part of our home) and look nice, whether it's a panel in front (wood? metal?) that snugs in with weatherstripping and insulation, or we leave the fireplace open and enjoy the aesthetic of the fireplace...with an outlet box in the middle. There's lots of space under the floor of the fireplace that seems like a rodent magnet, and the electrical.

 

[semipro]

We had a couple layers of insulation board in the front opening, and some shoved in the chimney too. Together they sealed the drafts pretty well. We also insulated around the bottom edge (where brick meets carpet) and put cedar boars in front. Wasps and mice have come up through the bottom of the fireplace, where previous owners wired for an electric insert that we took out. The chimney was a wreck so it's gone and roofed over; there will never be a fire here. Maybe in the future we'll put doors to the exterior here but that's years away.

What would you do with this?

End result should minimize drafts (this has been by far the draftiest part of our home) and look nice, whether it's a panel in front (wood? metal?) that snugs in with weatherstripping and insulation, or we leave the fireplace open and enjoy the aesthetic of the fireplace...with an outlet box in the middle. There's lots of space under the floor of the fireplace that seems like a rodent magnet, and the electrical.

Is it on a raised hearth?

 

[little heathen]

Not exactly- I attached a photo of the whole thing, toys included. The firebox is open to the outside underneath. We can kind of access this cavity from the exterior/chimney. We sprayed some insulation into the space a couple years ago.

I considered spraying as much as possible (more) into that ground cavity, then use a thin, hopefully somewhat insulating, layer over the floor of the firebox- like some kind of thick rug (?) cut to fit- and chalk paint the sides and back to keep the matte and neutral color. Spray foaming and caulking wherever we can. Chimney balloons get such poor reviews- I think we're better off keeping the insulation panel we have shoved in the chimney.

 

[begreen]

Have you considered putting in an insert in there with an insulated ss liner?

 

[snaple4]

Have you considered putting in an insert in there with an insulated ss liner?

I get the impression they don’t want a fireplace at all.
As far as OP. Take the effort and just knock it out and put up a wall or the doors you want. No point in throwing money at it to seal it up when you could just spend that money to remove it. If money is a concern then you could knock out the wall and just wall it up with 2x4s, batt insulation, plywood, and exterior paint. Won’t look great but solves the initial problem and let’s you plan for your doors. Most of the wood can be reused to build out the doorway as well.

 

[begreen]

If that's the case it could be turned into a cool LEGO cave for the kids.

 

[byQ]

Or maybe a fish tank (you already have the plug).