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- 4 May 2006
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Hi all,
I'm in the process of opening up an old fireplace ready for a log burner to be installed next month. The old 1970s fireplace and associated masonry have all gone, so I'm left with the original brick firebox. When the house was first built (1880s brick cottage) the fireplace had a range fitted (used to be the kitchen, now the lounge), and as a result a lot of the bricks are burnt black and almost glazed. I was hoping to clean these up, repoint them and then leave them visible but I've given up on this now. I've tried all sorts of cleaning chemicals, brushing, and even resorted to an angle grinder this morning but I think the bricks are damaged beyond recovery. So I'm now wondering what to do instead.
I could just plaster the walls and paint them, but I was hoping for the fireplace to have a bit more character than that. A couple of other options would be to clad the existing bricks with brick slips (I'm not convinced that this wouldn't look false though) or slate tiles (might be too dark & out of character with the rest of the house). So has anyone got any suggestions on what I could do?
Many thanks...
I'm in the process of opening up an old fireplace ready for a log burner to be installed next month. The old 1970s fireplace and associated masonry have all gone, so I'm left with the original brick firebox. When the house was first built (1880s brick cottage) the fireplace had a range fitted (used to be the kitchen, now the lounge), and as a result a lot of the bricks are burnt black and almost glazed. I was hoping to clean these up, repoint them and then leave them visible but I've given up on this now. I've tried all sorts of cleaning chemicals, brushing, and even resorted to an angle grinder this morning but I think the bricks are damaged beyond recovery. So I'm now wondering what to do instead.
I could just plaster the walls and paint them, but I was hoping for the fireplace to have a bit more character than that. A couple of other options would be to clad the existing bricks with brick slips (I'm not convinced that this wouldn't look false though) or slate tiles (might be too dark & out of character with the rest of the house). So has anyone got any suggestions on what I could do?
Many thanks...
