Morning all - once again I am after some advice from you all!
We have had a gas fire for a while which has now been taken out and capped off by a proper gas chap.
I remember many years ago there being an open fire in there (used to be my nans house) so thought I would open the fireplace up a bit to see if I could go back to it.
After taking out some cement and all its a fairly big square hole.
This is where I need some advice:
1. There is no register plate in the flue - do I need one for an open fire, I know I do for a stove type thing?
2. Will I need to get the chimney lined - house was built in 1950 (I think) and has some sort of lining (lime cement?) and there is no debris at the bottom.
3. In the actual fireplace, do I need anything special to tidy the bricks up - I am thinking of getting some black slate tiles (12x12) and cementing them to the brickwork that is already there.
4. The only thing I am worried about is 3 bricks on each side that have just been put in there (no cement unless is broken away) holding up a concrete lintel type thing across the width of the fireplace. This concrete lintel is led at an angle of about 30 degrees. Can I take all of this out, or would it be better to mix up some cement and make it all more stable?
I had a smoke bomb thing and lit it where the fire would be and the draw is top notch, no smoke in the rooms the flue goes through or in the loft - this is why I asked about a register plate.
Thanks in advance for any advice, if pictures are needed I can try and get in there with a camera!
Forgot to say - I will be getting someone in to check it all after I have done the work, just didn't fancy paying through the nose for the things I could do (like taking bricks etc out!)
Ryan
We have had a gas fire for a while which has now been taken out and capped off by a proper gas chap.
I remember many years ago there being an open fire in there (used to be my nans house) so thought I would open the fireplace up a bit to see if I could go back to it.
After taking out some cement and all its a fairly big square hole.
This is where I need some advice:
1. There is no register plate in the flue - do I need one for an open fire, I know I do for a stove type thing?
2. Will I need to get the chimney lined - house was built in 1950 (I think) and has some sort of lining (lime cement?) and there is no debris at the bottom.
3. In the actual fireplace, do I need anything special to tidy the bricks up - I am thinking of getting some black slate tiles (12x12) and cementing them to the brickwork that is already there.
4. The only thing I am worried about is 3 bricks on each side that have just been put in there (no cement unless is broken away) holding up a concrete lintel type thing across the width of the fireplace. This concrete lintel is led at an angle of about 30 degrees. Can I take all of this out, or would it be better to mix up some cement and make it all more stable?
I had a smoke bomb thing and lit it where the fire would be and the draw is top notch, no smoke in the rooms the flue goes through or in the loft - this is why I asked about a register plate.
Thanks in advance for any advice, if pictures are needed I can try and get in there with a camera!
Forgot to say - I will be getting someone in to check it all after I have done the work, just didn't fancy paying through the nose for the things I could do (like taking bricks etc out!)
Ryan
