Hi,
I am in the middle of re-plastering my mothers bedroom. The house was built in the mid 19th century and has had years of abuse and bodge jobs. We removed the old plaster from all the main bedroom walls except 2 as it was in very poor condition. We also exposed the old chimney breast and found the hole where there used to be a tall, slim victorian bedroom fireplace.
One of the previous owners had bricked downwards from the lintel, 2 layers of brick and no support - these have been removed. Unfortunately the sides of the hole(unsure of the correct term?) have been hacked away badly, I presume so that they could fit in a wider fireplace at some time.
I was wondering, rather than trying to remove each damaged brick and replace it with new ones (difficult because of their size), would it be possible to use some type of concrete and a mould put around it to get back the original shape? I am not sure if standard concrete would be able to cope with the heat of a real fire. Is there any type which would be? and is my suggestion of using a wooden frame against the wall to keep the shape until almost set feasible? If so, is there any type of bonding agent or sealent I should use before putting in the concrete?
I have found a local dealers who sells reconditioned victorian fireplaces and they have several which would be suitable. I suppose we could go for the wider fireplace option, but it would be nice to see the room with it's original size fireplace installed.
The rest of the work is currently going ok. I have had to plasterboard three of the walls, as the brickwork is unbelievable. There was also a panic when we discovered that the upstairs wall was never keyed into the rest of the house when the second upstairs bedroom was added. The house had tie bars added when the previous owners became aware of the problem, but we certainly weren't expecting to find a 3" gap between the 2 bedrooms along the front wall of the house. This has been checked by a professional and there is no further movement (luckily). I am enjoying doing the work though, I took a plastering course at a local college, and this has been the first time I have had the opportunity to really use all the things I learnt.
Thanks in advance for all your help. (sorry about the long post - I can never keep them short)
Cheers
Steph
I am in the middle of re-plastering my mothers bedroom. The house was built in the mid 19th century and has had years of abuse and bodge jobs. We removed the old plaster from all the main bedroom walls except 2 as it was in very poor condition. We also exposed the old chimney breast and found the hole where there used to be a tall, slim victorian bedroom fireplace.
One of the previous owners had bricked downwards from the lintel, 2 layers of brick and no support - these have been removed. Unfortunately the sides of the hole(unsure of the correct term?) have been hacked away badly, I presume so that they could fit in a wider fireplace at some time.
I was wondering, rather than trying to remove each damaged brick and replace it with new ones (difficult because of their size), would it be possible to use some type of concrete and a mould put around it to get back the original shape? I am not sure if standard concrete would be able to cope with the heat of a real fire. Is there any type which would be? and is my suggestion of using a wooden frame against the wall to keep the shape until almost set feasible? If so, is there any type of bonding agent or sealent I should use before putting in the concrete?
I have found a local dealers who sells reconditioned victorian fireplaces and they have several which would be suitable. I suppose we could go for the wider fireplace option, but it would be nice to see the room with it's original size fireplace installed.
The rest of the work is currently going ok. I have had to plasterboard three of the walls, as the brickwork is unbelievable. There was also a panic when we discovered that the upstairs wall was never keyed into the rest of the house when the second upstairs bedroom was added. The house had tie bars added when the previous owners became aware of the problem, but we certainly weren't expecting to find a 3" gap between the 2 bedrooms along the front wall of the house. This has been checked by a professional and there is no further movement (luckily). I am enjoying doing the work though, I took a plastering course at a local college, and this has been the first time I have had the opportunity to really use all the things I learnt.
Thanks in advance for all your help. (sorry about the long post - I can never keep them short)
Cheers
Steph
Better safe than sorry.
