opening a fireplace

[azza1991]

hi there i am looking for some information regarding opening up my fireplace to fit a log burner.

it currently has a gas fire fitted into the hole the house was built around 1920 and it fully brick i have removed the gas fire and inspected up the chimney i think i can open it up a bit but would need a new lintel im just wondering what size approximatly it would be also the back of the fireplace the brickwork seems bricked up to a certen point then the chimney goes bigger about 3 foot up from the floor should a chimney for a log burner be straight square top to bottom or is it normal to be smaller near the bottom ive heard its called a smoke shelf or something i have a chimney sweep coming round next week. any answers would be very much appreciated.

 

[Jonmyates]

Hi Azza.

Are you sure you'd need a lintel?

We've just done the same and didn't need one.

When it was opened up we found 2 lintels, a small one and a large one (about 12" above the small one). We remove the small and kept the large.

Cheers

 

[Jonmyates]

This is what we used:

http://www.stovefittersmanual.co.uk/articles/opening-up-a-fireplace/