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- 6 Jan 2005
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Hacking away at a bricked-up fireplace trying to sort out some damp, I find this:
The span is 1.2m, and at either end are 40cm by 50cm brick piers. There is also a curved steel bar (not visible in pic.) about 5cm wide and 7mm thick under the arch. Rusty but intact. As 'original features' go it's not great, but it's the best we're going to get...
Obviously, this is the original fireplace and I would like to remove the brickwork below the arch. I also don't want the wall to fall down. Does it look OK? Or do I call the structural engineer (again)? I've done a couple of these before in a previous house, which were in much worse condition initially with no problem, but (a) they were smaller and (b) maybe I shouldn't have.
Second thing: the back of this is a single skin of brick. I'd rather not leave it like that (there's no possibility of using the fireplace - structual steel for an attic conversion near the top). I'm thinking of building a new inner leaf - 50mm insulation, 40mm air gap as in some new work done on the house elsewhere to just above the height of the arch. Then close the chimney with a sheet of insulation, sitting on a batten fixed to the inside of chimney breast and the top of the new wall (this would not be fixed, and neither would it close off the chimney completely). I could also new airbricks to the outside. OK? Mad?
Thanks again,
Neal
The span is 1.2m, and at either end are 40cm by 50cm brick piers. There is also a curved steel bar (not visible in pic.) about 5cm wide and 7mm thick under the arch. Rusty but intact. As 'original features' go it's not great, but it's the best we're going to get...
Obviously, this is the original fireplace and I would like to remove the brickwork below the arch. I also don't want the wall to fall down. Does it look OK? Or do I call the structural engineer (again)? I've done a couple of these before in a previous house, which were in much worse condition initially with no problem, but (a) they were smaller and (b) maybe I shouldn't have.
Second thing: the back of this is a single skin of brick. I'd rather not leave it like that (there's no possibility of using the fireplace - structual steel for an attic conversion near the top). I'm thinking of building a new inner leaf - 50mm insulation, 40mm air gap as in some new work done on the house elsewhere to just above the height of the arch. Then close the chimney with a sheet of insulation, sitting on a batten fixed to the inside of chimney breast and the top of the new wall (this would not be fixed, and neither would it close off the chimney completely). I could also new airbricks to the outside. OK? Mad?
Thanks again,
Neal