opening up an old victorian fireplace

[nicola*j*]

Hi,
I have a victrian fireplace in my bedroom with the surround and floor tiles but the main fire bit is boarded up with plywood.

what i would like to is take the plywood down and begin using it as a fire again. what i am not so sure of, however, is how to do this. i am worried about what may happen when i take the board away, and what might be there.

Do i need to hire a professional chimney sweep? or can i use an industrial hoover to clear out the bottom. also, how will i know if the chimney is still open and useable?

any ideas or advice would be greatfully received.

nic

 

[Bilioustrumpstaine]

You can buy smoke pellets from plumbers merchants that you can use to see if your chimney has a good draw on it, you light one and put it in the grate and go outside to make sure that the smoke is escaping freely. But as it hasn't been used for a while I would get a chimney sweep in to give it a once over just in case there are any birds nests etc

 

[Symptoms]

nicola - if you're lucky the person who boarded the fireplace up will have left the grate, fire-bars, ashbox & cover, behind the board. If they have then you'll have all the bits to get started; you'll also need a fender (the metal 'fence', often brass, that surrounds the hearth to prevent the coals from spilling onto the carpet.

You MUST get the chimney setup checked by a qualified sweep to make sure there's no excessive quantities of old soot, nests, fallen masonry. I'm old enough to remember what damage a chimney fire can do when soot debris catches alight - these fires were quite common before all the clean air acts came into force and people closed their fireplaces up.

 

[mattylad]

The sweep will also be able to give you plenty ofa dvice as they see a lot of chimneys.