Is this safe to continue?

[paulalde]

Evening all,

I've recently had the gas fire capped and decided to make a start on opening up the original fireplace (stone build property late 1800s) in preparation for a wood burner. Once the mantel and tiles were removed I was surprised at the size of the opening, and even more so the size of the stone lintel.

Fireplace Lintel

• paulalde
• 3 Apr 2014
• 1

As you can see from the picture the lintel is slightly off centre with less end bearing on the right. Does this look supported enough before I start taking out the bricks inside the opening that were built up for the gas fire? Am I right in thinking it should be a minimum of 150mm on each side, and does this differ depending on lintel construction?



Cheers

 

[pinenot]

I've pointed to the top of the left hand upright in the pic. -

Untitled

• pinenot
• 4 Apr 2014
• 1

- so what's the condition of this?...pinenot

 

[catlad]

Seen plenty like it and they have been there 100yrs or more.

 

[paulalde]

Thanks for the responses, I've added some more pictures for a better view.

Lintel Left

• paulalde
• 5 Apr 2014
• 1

The mortar is fairly solid to touch and there doesn't seem to be anything crumbling when pressed. In general this side looks the better of the 2.

Lintel Right

• paulalde
• 5 Apr 2014
• 1

This is more of the concern, again nothing crumbles when pressed with a reasonable force. I think the fact of its age and being behind plaster for a long time might make this appear to look worse. I'm just more concerned about the amount of brick keeping this up.

Any more thoughts?

 

[joe-90]

If you draw an equilateral triangle above the lintel you'll see it only supports a handful of bricks.

 

[ree]

As the above, excellent and straightforward advice.

Brickwork in c/breasts rarely drops or bulges - but your concern is the dimensions from the stove/fire manufacturers instructions.


Dont be knocking things about until you are working to a marked on the c/breast dimensional outline.

As many OP's are advised: do go back and read up similar questions on here, there are lots of recent suggestions.

 

[paulalde]

Thanks for all the feedback everyone.

Ree, I'm already aware of the stove manufacturers guidelines and there's nothing to worry about in that area. The original fireplace opening won't be changed in size and is more than sufficient for the stove I have in mind. I was only really looking for individual advice on the lintel situation in my picture; so research on other posts won't really relate directly to my question. I do appreciate the feedback though so thanks all the same, it's much appreciated.

So just to summarise, from my pictures the right bearing support that the lintel has doesn't look to be of any concern? I'm hoping to take out the non structural brickwork in the opening that was built up to house the gas fire next.

Cheers again everyone