Brick fireplace - gaps either side

[Louis Penny]

Hello

we used to have a brick mantle surrounding our fireplace.

we have removed the mantle and it has since exposed two gaps either side.

we have a wooden mantle to fix to the wall and a cast iron insert.

can we simply render over the exposed brick and and fill the two gaps with bricks?

Any advice is greatly appreciated.


Currently looks like this. The Mantle is not secured yet and cast iron insert not placed.

Used to look like this

The cast iron insert

 

[bobasd]

Yes, you can brick up the two openings/gaps and then render over.