Exposing the brickwork on the chimney of 1930s semi

sharonpeak · 18 Apr 2008

I am considering trying to expose the brickwork of a bedroom chimney of our 1930s semi up to picture rail height.

I am unsure whether there was originally a fireplace in the upstairs rooms, and will probably re-open it (for decorative purposes only) if there was.

I know if I start and its not working, the worst case option should be a small replastering job.

But before I start, I wondered if anyone else some tips or advice.
PS our walls are dead hard render!
Also if it is successful - any hints on how to finish the brickwork - should it have some stabiliser painted on to reduce dust etc?

Thanks
Sharon

darrenh · 18 Apr 2008

I did this is my last place - it looked great. It was a 1920 house - i had the chimney swept and we used it with a real coal basket.

I gave the bricks a good rub down with a semi-hard wire brush and then did not seal them any further (worried the heat would blemish any finish).

The iggest issue is getting the mortar looking right as a lot of this will coem away with the render. I patched areas up with clay and it looked fine.

D

roughcaster · 18 Apr 2008

If you want to expose the brickwork on a bedroom chimney wall, and you say it is covered in "dead hard render", chances are you will damage the brickwork trying to get the render off.

Roughcaster.

noseall · 18 Apr 2008

roughcaster said:
If you want to expose the brickwork on a bedroom chimney wall, and you say it is covered in "dead hard render", chances are you will damage the brickwork trying to get the render off.

Roughcaster.

wise words from rough c.

joe-90 · 19 Apr 2008

The bricks used were also often rubbishy commons.

JohnD · 19 Apr 2008

as joe says

any brickwork that was intended to be plastered over and out of sight will be made with odd bricks, clumsily laid, with gaps and uneven joints. It is very unlikely to be a thing of beauty.

roughcaster · 19 Apr 2008

I agree with Joe and John, and wouldn't look for anything special under the render, especially inside a house. But now and again, on the outside of an older house that has been rendered/roughcasted,you get the opposite. There is an older house not far from where I live, where the old wet dash was removed, to reveal beautiful stonework underneath. It was cleaned up, repointed and it totaly transformed the look of the property. Makes you wonder why it was covered up in the first place. Fashion at the time I suppose.

Roughcaster.

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Exposing the brickwork on the chimney of 1930s semi

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