I have had an old gas fire removed and chopped out the surround, superimposed hearth and old fireback with a view to getting a wood burning stove fitted.
The stove installer was surprised to find that the existing opening is only about 500mm wide, and said I'd need to widen the opening by about a half-brick on either side to fit any normal sort of stove. There is a throat-forming lintel above the existing opening, but it doesn't look to me as if it's original - the brickwork around it and above/below look different to my inexperienced eyes. I've removed some plaster from the face of the breast, looking for evidence of a constructional lintel but don't think I've found one yet (see picture).
The house was built in 1955 - is there likely to be another lintel higher up (i've chopped plaster off up to 1.2m so far), either concrete or iron? The height of the existing opening is suitable for the stoves we were looking at - is the brickwork likely to be stable enough for me to remove the throat forming lintel and replace with a wider concrete one? If it makes a difference the flue goes off to the left and narrows to the width of the jamb in the first floor. The gather starts on the right hand side one course above the throat - is the right hand jamb therefore likely to be full of crap?
Thanks.
View media item 13459
The stove installer was surprised to find that the existing opening is only about 500mm wide, and said I'd need to widen the opening by about a half-brick on either side to fit any normal sort of stove. There is a throat-forming lintel above the existing opening, but it doesn't look to me as if it's original - the brickwork around it and above/below look different to my inexperienced eyes. I've removed some plaster from the face of the breast, looking for evidence of a constructional lintel but don't think I've found one yet (see picture).
The house was built in 1955 - is there likely to be another lintel higher up (i've chopped plaster off up to 1.2m so far), either concrete or iron? The height of the existing opening is suitable for the stoves we were looking at - is the brickwork likely to be stable enough for me to remove the throat forming lintel and replace with a wider concrete one? If it makes a difference the flue goes off to the left and narrows to the width of the jamb in the first floor. The gather starts on the right hand side one course above the throat - is the right hand jamb therefore likely to be full of crap?
Thanks.
View media item 13459