To remove or not remove.. that is the question?

[Ben WW]

So, have just removed the old gas Fire and tiles and revealed an opening too small for the new cast iron (decorative) fire surround.

Looks to be about the infill of bricks too narrow (8 inches) and now considering whether I can take these out with an SDS? The Problem is the small concrete lintel that sat above the old gas fire would also need to go.

Would the piece of strut bar be sufficient? I wouldn't have thought so.

Looking at the pics, what's the upshot? Any help would be really appreciated!

Cheers,

Ben

 

[vinn]

If you remove some more plaster from higher up the chimney breast face you might meet another lintel - perhaps a brick arch?

The seems to be a metal angle iron (?) slightly higher up - what is it & what is it doing?

Given that you will have to open up to specific dimensions (w x ht) then the infill bricks are sometimes better cut to a line with an angle grinder.

Your new surround will have to be on site before you proceed.
Any obstructing Register plate or plate frame will have to be removed from the flue.
The flue will have to be swept.
The chimney stack terminal & flaunching will have to be examined for condition & fitness.

 

[Ben WW]

If you remove some more plaster from higher up the chimney breast face you might meet another lintel - perhaps a brick arch?

The seems to be a metal angle iron (?) slightly higher up - what is it & what is it doing?

Given that you will have to open up to specific dimensions (w x ht) then the infill bricks are sometimes better cut to a line with an angle grinder.

Your new surround will have to be on site before you proceed.
Any obstructing Register plate or plate frame will have to be removed from the flue.
The flue will have to be swept.
The chimney stack terminal & flaunching will have to be examined for condition & fitness.

I'm not sure what the iron strip is there for. I think it's a product called unistrut and a metal framing system which seems most odd!

In our rear room we did indeed have an arch as above but didn't want to hack away at all the plaster work unnecessarily. Looks like it may need to be done. That said the unistrut seems to be in the exact position that the arch would have started to curve from which leaves me to think that it has potentially been removed and filled below, hmmm

 

[vinn]

The "unistrut" is now more clearly defined on my monitor and it looks like a length of plaster corner angle bead.
Whatever it is, hack off a little higher to look for a lintel or indications of infill bricks.

If no lintel/arch can be found then you might have to use an Acrow Strongboy to insert a new lintel at the correct height - no big deal but first look above.

The u/strut should come out - if it begins to rust, the rust will bleed through the decorated surface.


Your two pics of different c/breasts in different rooms are a bit confusing at first glance.

 

[Ben WW]

The "unistrut" is now more clearly defined on my monitor and it looks like a length of plaster corner angle bead.
Whatever it is, hack off a little higher to look for a lintel or indications of infill bricks.

If no lintel/arch can be found then you might have to use an Acrow Strongboy to insert a new lintel at the correct height - no big deal but first look above.

The u/strut should come out - if it begins to rust, the rust will bleed through the decorated surface.


Your two pics of different c/breasts in different rooms are a bit confusing at first glance.

Cheers Vinn.

Think you may be right. The plaster above that unistrut is very friable and crumbles away.. guessing it's the covering of a steel/concrete lintel.

I'll hack it off tomorrow and have a good look at it..