Recent content by theopposite

Ah yes, those dodgy tiles. They were like that (minus the mastic) when we bought the house. The guy who did the flashing around the chimney told me about the bodged tiles and applied the mastic as a precautionary measure. No water gets through them. The felt inside the loft is broken near them...

Cheers. Yes, these things are always more expensive than you think. This is the first time I've got up close to the chimney. It's looks ok from ground level!!! I suspect the same with regard to the cracked / damaged bricks so I know at the very least they'll need replacing. Who decided to have...

Hey, So today I had some scaffold erected around my chimney with the intention of repointing it then applying Stormdry masonry sealant. I suspected the chimney had become porus because there is a damp patch in the bedroom upstairs where the ceiling meets the chimney breast. However, when I got...

Hi all, I'm building a tandoor oven in the garden. The basic design will look something like this crude diagram: The part I'm not sure about is the 'concrete stand'. I need to create a plinth or stand on which the clay pot can sit. The stand will be hollow and inside I'll put...

Hi all, I want to apply a lime render to the inside walls of my fireplace, into which I am installing a wood burner. I'm only going to render the sides and leave the back wall brick exposed. The photo shows the situation: My question is the metal bead put in place for...

Hi all, As the thread title suggests, I'm looking to support a wood burning stove which weighs around 95KG. I have removed the open fire in the lounge and we are left with the open chimney breast which is around 96cm wide and 50cm deep. I intend to install a wood burner. Rather than place...

Hi all, For some reason the door frames in my house are only around 73" high. Finding doors to fit is nigh on impossible - unless I have them made to order - but the cost is too high. I therefore am going to build my own doors. I own basic tools (saws, chisels, drills etc) but to build...

@mnb I'm not quite sure I understand how I have offended you? I am very grateful for all the replies and suggestions. Up until this evening the original lintel still had not been exposed so we were speculating as to what kind of lintel, if any, could be in place. Now it has been exposed I...

Tonight I have chipped away more of the plaster, and I have found what looks like a possible lintel: The top most exposed row of bricks, around 56" from the floor, are the original chimney bricks so I guess that must be the original lintel. However, it looks more straight than curved so...

Thanks for everyone's advice. I'll try and remove some more plaster tonight and see if I can find a lintel. I'll take a photo and post it here. I guess if I do find a lintel it should be OK to remove the bricks beneath it. I didn't realise there were building regs relating to wood burners...

@ theoldun That sounds promising. I guess it would be fairly obvious there is a lintel there then when I remove more of the plaster?

Basically I want to remove the fireplace and install a wood burning stove. I was hoping the original lintel would still be in place since removing it doesn't seem to make sense. Having looked around the net, I've seen a few images of Victorian chimneys where the arched lintel is fairly...

Hey all, glad I found this forum! I'm just in the process of removing the open fire from our living room. I've remove the fire surround etc and I'm trying to establish if/where the original lintel is. Here is a photo: So far, as hopefully is clear from the photo, there is just a...