Cutting bricks flush to existing brickwork

[James Carmichael]

Hi all,

I have an Edwardian brick chimney in my kitchen. I want to create a squared-up opening in it. The brickwork in the body of the chimney starts to form the throat of the chimney below the height at which I want to square the opening up.

I have had formal calculations done and inserted the specified lintels and angle irons to support the brickwork above, so I am now left with the challenge of cutting away the brickwork below the support. As I want to create a square opening, I need to cut the throat brickwork away in a manner that's flush to the existing brick sides of the chimney.

(I'm hoping this makes sense so far).

Is there a good way to do this? I have an angle grinder and have bought depressed centre stone cutting discs for it, but even these don't fully hide the nut that holds the disc in the grinder. So, I'm unable to cut fully flush. And, by the time I've cut one section above another above another above another, I'm still left with quite a lot of a curving in in the opening.

My next thought is to drill out the brickwork with my SDS hammer but surely there must be a better way!

Any thoughts?

Many thanks

 

[^woody^]

You probably don't want to be using an angle grinder in the kitchen unless you fancy cleaning up dust around the house for the next decade.

Use a hammer and bolster chisel to snap the bricks. But you may find it easier to remove bricks, cut them and then re-lay them.

 

[James Carmichael]

Thanks @^woody^

I am notoriously limp wristed, so was hoping for a solution that used electricity. But, I'll try the bolster chisel for a bit before having a little cwy.

Dust isn't really an issue. When I say "kitchen" I actually mean a room stripped back to bare walls with a taped up door.