fireplace

I am opening up an old blocked up fireplace, but I'm not intending to put a burner or fire in. I've stripped back the plaster looking for a lintel, and about 1.65m from ground and not found one. Plus the brickwork shape is making me wonder if there will be one at all - can't find any other...

Hi, We're in the process of renovating our living room and are replacing the old gas fire with a fake/electric woodburner. Had the fire removed and gas supply capped off and now we've got round to removing the fire surround, mantel etc. Bit disappointed to find some questionable brickwork...

Hi. Very limited experience here. I recently paid someone to put down new boards and joists due to damp. They left it like this over the old fireplace block. I don't know if that's a normal way to leave it or not. I'd expected him to board over it and had never really thought to raise the...

Hi there Just had our old gas fire removed and trying to decide whether to plaster over or keep the hole for a feature. The opening is pretty small and messy and the flue blocks taper up so wondering if it's ok (or not) to knock out the pre cast blocks at the bottom? This would allow for a...

Hi, We've just had our gas fire taken out and gas capped in our new house. We were planning on putting in an electric log burner but would need to open out the cavity by around 10cm on either side in order for it to fit. I naively thought we might be able to just chisel away some brickwork on...

Hello, I'm moving into my house next week and one of the first things I want to do is remove the existing gas fire and surround (see image below) and put in a gas or electric stove (a proper wood burner wouldn't work with the existing flue from what I've been told). As you can see, the chimney...

I want to raise the level of my hearth to ultimately install a wood burning stove. However, the current hearth (below floor level) is cracked and powdery, and has a big piece missing right underneath where the old fireplace was. It's clearly been damaged by all the thermal stresses over its...

Hiya! I am knocking down the decorative part of my fireplace. It was chunky, took a lot of place, and made out of bricks. Everything is going great, but I am unsure about this part. It looks like cement has been poored underneath what seems to me the structural arch lintel, and goes over the...

Hello all, Thanks in advance for your assistance I'm hoping to open up my fireplace to the original size As you can see in the photos, the mortar line to the left and right where it has been bricked up from but I didn't immediately find a lintel above, or bricked arch or bricked soldiers to...

Hi, I've just uncovered the third fireplace in my 1860s terrace. The first two I uncovered are lovely stone fireplaces, all straightforward and easy to clear out and fix up, with nice even slabs of York stone as their lintels. The third one is unlike any lintel I've ever seen as it's got the...

I have a cast iron fireplace installed and wanted to put a gas fire insert (one of the coal ones) into the bottom where the real coal would have sat and had a couple of questions. An old 1950's fire was taken out, and I have cut away some of the brick and filler to allow this cast iron (coa...

Hello, I’ve just opened up a previously bricked up opening in a chimney breast to reinstate a cast iron fireplace. You can see where the original fire was removed - the area was rendered in with cement which I’ve now removed. The replacement skirting was concrete too! First time I’ve seen that...

Not a wizened DIYer so please forgive naivety and incorrect terminology. I have a couple of fireplaces in my ground floor Victorian flat, both with approx. 2cm of old (cracked) screed over approx. 20cm of cement (lots of large stones in this lower mix). This all sits on a rubble filled, brick...

Hi Everyone, We have bought a couple of fire surrounds and it seems that the inner legs don't fully reach the wall despite all the other parts of the surround being flush to the wall (attached pictures). Anyone know why this is or how to make this look half decent? I don't even know where to...

Hi, can anyone confirm whether the black stuff in the photos is mould? I think it may be mould but perhaps covered in dust, so I’m not sure. The photos are from an old disused fireplace that is now simply a hole in my bedroom wall with a breeze coming through it. I’m on the top floor with two...

Hi, I live in Scotland in an area that is not (currently) a smoke control area, and burn house coal and seasoned wood (not kiln dried, simply dried in the wood store next to the house) in our open fire, i.e. a traditional fireplace. I read (here https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-51581817) that...

Hey, Took the fireplace out and got left with what looks like a neat builders opening. Can this opening be extended if I add a new wider lintel? Extending only by 10cm each side. Can the gather/bricks inside be removed? What if sides of chimney breast are hollow? Seems like they might...

Hi can anyone tell me if there is likely to be asbestos anywhere around this fireplace and which parts it could be in? The surround is not originally black it was painted this colour. The house is old but I’m not sure how old (somewhere over 100 years I think)

Hello! Recently bought my first house and I’m a total DIY novice. We had a gas fireplace removed (the kind that sits midway up the chimney breast and looks like a Tv),and had the gas capped. Our plan was to just use the recess as a feature in the chimney breast, as we do not want a new gas...

Hi All, First time poster, but long time lurker. Apologies if this first post ends up being more cathartic than anything else! Looking to install a woodburning stove in rear dining room of my 1920’s brick semi. House is in generally good shape, but you get the feeling that the country was a...