Fireplace lintel

[andrewbrighton]

Hi,

Just in the process of opening up an old fireplace in my second bedroom to create an alcove. House is a Victorian terrace built circa 1880. I have removed the blockwork infill to get back to the original opening, which is around 50cm wide.

At the top of the opening is a soldier course with one of the bricks cut to a taper and the others laid at a slight angle. A couple of these bricks are very slightly loose and the mortar between is a bit crumbly. There is no steel bar underneath or lintel that I can see by peering in to the opening. I assume it was built without one.

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• andrewbrighton
• 27 Jan 2014
• 1

I'm after some advice on what to do with the loose bricks. Options would seem to be:

1. Leave it as it is
2. Attempt to leave the bricks in place, rake out the mortar and repoint
3. Remove loose bricks and refit with new mortar
4. Fit a concrete lintel

Many thanks

 

[NS215]

theres no support as its an arch, best to put a concrete lintel in if your just going to plaster it up

 

[andrewbrighton]

Thanks - figured that was probably the safest solution, though also the most work. Just can't help thinking that if it was designed to work without a lintel I should be able to keep it that way!

 

[conny]

If you are going to make a feature of it/use it then you could make up a plywood frame consisting of two stout side pieces and a double or triple layer of thinner ply to bend into the shape of the arch. Tap this into place and then rake out the old mortar one brick at a time and re-point back into place. It you need to adjust the position of any bricks this can be done with small pieces of slate to wedge them into the correct position.

 

[andrewbrighton]

The plywood support sounds like a good suggestion. Think I prefer this approach as it's less destructive and leaves the option of making a feature out of the brickwork.

 

[tony1851]

It's not a true arch as the bricks are at the same angle from each side, with a wedge-shaped brick in the middle (sometimes known as a 'Dutch arch').
Unless the mortar is sticking well to the bricks - which it may not do with the old lime mortar - they may all come away.

 

[andrewbrighton]

Just to update, in the end I went with conny's suggestion of rebuilding the arch. Having built a timber frame I intended to replace one brick at a time, but once I got started it became clear the course above were supporting themselves. I was able to remove the entire course without any dropping then replace them all with new lime mortar.

By the time I'd scrubbed down and repointed the bricks inside, laid a new concrete bed and tidied up the plaster and skirtings it did seem like quite a faff! Anyway, happy with the result.

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• andrewbrighton
• 4 Jun 2014
• 1