A hole in the chimney for a Plasma HELP

[eazyrog]

Hello all,

Can i please get some advice here.

I have a 1930's terraced house, on one of the walls i have a Gas Fire and a Chimney.

I want to cut a hole in the chimney and make a box so i can fit my plasma in it and make it flush with the chimney.

Currently on the floor is a old unused gas fire which also needs to be ripped out, the gas has already be cut off for it.

The chimney is 62" wide, i want a hole that will be 52".

I have no experiance and also never seen whats behind a chimney.

Does anyone know if its safe to simply knock the bricks out one by one, and do i need to install a lintel, if so then i image its a job for a professional as thats beyond me.

I've had a few people over to check it out and some of them have told me that the support for the chimney is the side walls so i dont need a lintel however some have told me to make sure i get a lintel installed.

Here are some pics of what i currently have.

http://s95.photobucket.com/albums/l149/eazyrog/Chimney/

Hope someone can help and thanks for your advice.

Roger

 

[dagger]

if you have enough room, you could do what a mate of mine did - he built an additional stud wall in front of the existing chimney breast and sink his plasma in that - easy, cheap, no bricks need removing so safe too

you only need 5 or 6 inches extra to do it too
hope it helps

 

[eazyrog]

Hi, thanks for your reply.

I know exactly what you mean however i'm still wanting to cut into the chimney.

Thanks

 

[Static]

Your talking about pretty much removing the whole front of the chimney... so gotta support the upper section of the breast with some form of lintel (either a UB steel of heavy duty concrete lintel), course youll need building regs because its a structural alteration.

 

[obmitty]

Your TV looks a reasonable height, but I have seen this done at a mates house and it was a pain in the arse watching TV, as good as it looked!


The problem was the TV was way to high on the wall, you're always having to look up, it really annoyed me.

 

[crapday]

You better watch out. If you disturb the flow of air thought the chimney then you could end up with damp walls.

 

[Richard C]

Overall, not a good idea to dismantle the chimney breast, I would go with studwork & the false wall; also allows you to hide all the cables easily & position the socket outlet & antenna behind to TV so you see nothing except bare wall; it's how I did mine in a conservatory but I don't have a fire in there.

 

[Fluffster]

I would not even attempt this Roger if you have a gas fire and flue.
If you compromise the integrity of the flue it could be the last time you watch tv.
If you do go ahead make sure a corgi engineer tests the tightness of the chimney before you use the gas fire again.
Good luck
Pete

 

[markvirgo]

This is not as difficult as some are saying.

As you stated that you no longer are using your gas fire.

as there is a flue behind it is easy to pass through the wires.

I built a bookcase out of mdf and had that installed in mine below the tv and you can use it to hold the dvd player/sky.

use a angle grinder and plastic sheets as it will be dusty.

you will need a concrete lintel but you may have one installed above the gas fire hole that you can remove and replace higher up.

 

[Richard C]

This is not as difficult as some are saying.

Nobody said it was difficult, just not a good idea to mess with the flue! Fine if neither Roger nor any future inhabitant will ever want to use it for a fire again but it seems like a lot of effort to bury a flat panel TV.

The back will also have to be protected from damp, rain, dust, bird **** etc falling down the chimney & you’d better provide some ventilation to dissipate the heat generated by the set or that nice new flat panel TV may not last too long & the manufacturer then refuses to honour the warranty because you’ve cooked it!