What to do with my fireplace?

[AceOfHearts]

I have just pulled out the old broken gas fireplace from my living room as i didn't like the look of it or the brick surround, but now it is out it seems they have done a better mounting job than I first thought, and the inside of the surround (that i thought was just a front) is all concreted up. Now the gas is all cut back and blanked off (all safely so don't worry ) i did'nt know whether to just start at it with a club hammer or work with what i have?

I wanted to either replace the whole lot with an open fire or wood burner, but am unsure how much work it will take with it currently looking so 'sturdy'.

I will update with pictures soon, but what do you think i should do, and any pictures of nice fireplaces as inspiration would be appreciated

I will update this thread as I go along with the mini project

[mattdaniels]

Have you got a proper chimney?

[AceOfHearts]

Yes, the house was built in 1880 (2 up 2 down). Obviously i will also need to get it checked out / swept before recommissioning as a real fire. I will get some pictures now to help explain.

[madbadger]

Pics needed, but I would definitely crack on to get a proper fire installed.

About to do the same.

[AceOfHearts]

Ok here is what I have at the moment:







Up the chimney:





The easiest thing to do would be put a small stove in the existing gap, but my heart says rip out the front brickwork and try to get the fireplace back to its original size

[DBSV8]

heres a thread on similar topic , i did the same thing , knocked out the entire fireplace opening inserted a solid fuel flue liner with blanking plate , Esse 200 wood burning stove and built a Rudloe stone Hazelbury manor fireplace with fire chamber , gives off fantastic heat NB fill the void between chimney and liner with vermicelulite.
the great thing about the ESSE stoves are the large window when open virtually like an open fire


http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/gassing/topic.asp?h=0...



from this to this



http://www.rudloe-stone.com/

http://www.storesdirect.co.uk/stoves/esse-100-mult...

Edited by DBSV8 on Sunday 5th August 16:39

[AceOfHearts]

Thanks for that

I have had a look at small 5kw stoves on eBay to get some measurements but it looks like even these small stoves will be a very tight squeeze into the existing gap, so it looks like i will have to knock the whole lot out anyways

How would you guys progress with this?

[DBSV8]

AceOfHearts said:

Thanks for that

I have had a look at small 5kw stoves on eBay to get some measurements but it looks like even these small stoves will be a very tight squeeze into the existing gap, so it looks like i will have to knock the whole lot out anyways

How would you guys progress with this?

The main thing to decide is if you want a fully functioning fireplace ,or you want to widen it to fit a Wood burning stove ,remember there is an art to buildind a successfull chimney / fireplace and its covered under building regs , as an example you must ensure you have a non combustable hearth .

When i built mine i had no choice , once i knocked away the old fireplace similar to yours , ( the original stone wall was covered behind two tons of French clay brick , plaster like some 70s pagoda )

I was left with what you see in the top photo. In your case the brick opening looks too narrow to fit a wood burner in , so you really have two choices , leave the fire chamber ( the concrete bit ) as is , remove the brick frontage and replace with a new Fire surround / hearth and plaster around the fire surround to make good.

or radically remove the bricks , chip out the concrete and widen the fireplace openning , buy a
firplace ( Stone / marble ) and buy a wood burner , Esse are the most compact on the market so would be ideal for your application ,

then you will need to line your chimney with a flue liner , this looks like a flexible steel hose about 5-6" wide which you either insert from the bottom with someone on the roof with a rope attached pull up on a rope , if you have an existing chimney pot , you will probably have to remove it and clamp the liner at the top of the stack , you can then install a rain / anti bird shroud and cement around to make good . From the fireplace end you will need to cut off any excess liner and install an end plate which should fit the internal dimensions of your chimney ( bottom bracket ) . The reason for this is so that you can fill the void ( area between chimney and flue ) with vermicelulite looks like foam particles , these insulate the chimney reduce heat loss and stop particles from falling down the chimney. You then need to install a flue which connects to the end plate and top of your wood burner , job done.

For the hearth i would remove those bricks and build a srtuctural hearth out of heat resistant tiles
http://www.stovesonline.co.uk/stove_building_regul...
http://www.diydoctor.org.uk/projects/newfire.htm


whats the brass valve near the cat ? is this the cut off for the gas ?

Edited by DBSV8 on Monday 6th August 10:53

[BlackCup]

This is the decor I had when we moved in at christmas! Bit 70's really!



This is the new effort, high efficiency gas burner 79% efficient so probably 60% really! Could have done wood burning but the gas is right there and we run a restaurant so just want it on to warm up the lounge for an hour or so when we get home late at night. So far so good just need a new carpet! The surround is black granite, such good quality. Wickes do a similar surround for £800 with fire but the quality and efficiency was terrible. Ours was £900 total. Had a new funky cowling put on the roof and a sweep and flue check just under £400. Not really that pleased with that price but something's are out of your expertise! Got a gas meter alarm thing too just to be on the safe side!

[AceOfHearts]

Thanks for the pictures everyone

I will have a look at 2kw (i did'nt see any that small in my previous search) but yes the room is quite small although the whole bottom of the house is open (not sure if you can see the big hole in the wall in the pictures)

And yes that was the old gas valve. The gas has now been properly capped off in the cupboard to the right of the fireplace and the old pipework going into the fireplace removed.

I will have a look at the smaller stoves and try to get some better pictures of the house to give you an idea of the space. Its looking though like i will knock out all the old brickwork, even though i have found products to 'age' red bricks which would have made an easier solution but i think the hole is just too small

[AceOfHearts]

What do people think of an inset stove like this:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fireglow-INSET-450-Multi...

Then i could just put in a nice stone hearth, and do something with the brickwork to make it look better. What could i do with the brickwork as I hate the red bricks? Can I age them with dye or should I paint them.

I am leaning towards this option as it would be easier / cheaper. I am worried if i pull the front brickwork down it might be hiding horrors behind. Or should i just say fk it and pull it down and deal with it?

[DBSV8]

AceOfHearts said:

What do people think of an inset stove like this:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fireglow-INSET-450-Multi...

Then i could just put in a nice stone hearth, and do something with the brickwork to make it look better. What could i do with the brickwork as I hate the red bricks? Can I age them with dye or should I paint them.

I am leaning towards this option as it would be easier / cheaper. I am worried if i pull the front brickwork down it might be hiding horrors behind. Or should i just say fk it and pull it down and deal with it?

I would still remove all the bricks , its a simple job and get someone in to plaster when finished , you will then be left with the fire chamber if the internal dimensions fit the fuel burner , then you will need an angular flue pipe , bottom bracket , flue liner , flue cap (flue liner kit )

http://www.fireplacestoreonline.com/products/Flexi...

http://www.fireplacestoreonline.com/products/The-3...

I would also remove brick hearth that will be a nightmare to clean and its a fire hazard , ideally fit a granit , tile , stone one remember open fires including solid fuel burners need cleaning = mess

Check out Paddy's photos second photo .

you then have plenty of options of fitting a fire surround your happy with , granite , marble stone ?

[AceOfHearts]

Thanks

I think i will do it properly and do it once. I will upload pics later in the week of the mess i make of the brickwork

[jinkster]

How about a basket fire (pub sort of open fire) in the gap and maybe where it is not very decorative at the back, some more exposed bricks.

[russ_a]

An open fire will kick out a fair amount of dust too.

[AceOfHearts]

Started pulling the brick front off today and have already founf what i think is the lintel:

[TooLateForAName]

I'm not seeing a lintel?

That wooden peg will probably be what the original fireplace was fastened to. You might be looking at a huge opening if there was originally one of the old cast iron ranges installed.

[Rosscow]

It looks to me that there is a curved soldier course of bricks.

If you look above the orange coloured brick you'll see the shape of the pug is like a wedge, getting bigger to the left.

There will probably be a rusty old piece of metal acting as a lintel behind that course, with the curved soldier course in front of it.

Just be careful as you take the bricks away and try not to disturb the solider course, you don't want them falling out!

Underneath the curved soldier course will be the original opening - hence the different coloured orange brick below it. These are the newer bricks used to brick the opening up.

[AceOfHearts]

OK i have made some progress today, the main problem being though i couldn't find a lintel at the front (more on that later)







After i couldn't find the lintel i panicked a bit, and stuck my head up the chimney. I found the lintel inside and is only 3 bricks up but I cannot see it from the outside even though it is only a single skin of bricks



So what do i do now?

Edited by AceOfHearts on Wednesday 8th August 18:17

[DJFish]

That looks very similar to ours, we started off with a horrible gas fire & brick fireplace:

Which we knocked out leaving the pre cast liner:

That came out leaving a big hole:

Which was lined with stone when we had the fire fitted: