Fireplace prep - woodburner

[Wasn'tme]

Morning all,

Looking for some advice on some fireplace work.

I'm removing a gas fire and putting a work burner in. Looks like there are two lintels, a main one and a secondary lintel perhaps put in to close the gap for the gas fire. Was this common practise? Any issues in removing the lower lintel?

I can see a crack the full width of the lintel bar where the lower one has come away from the main. Planning on drilling it out level with the bricks so not to disturb anything else. There's nothing behind the lower lintel bar...

Reason behind removing it is the clearance above the wood burner as is would not be great for air circulation or access for flue cleaning, not to mention the general look of the fireplace.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Deleted member 174758]

You see it a bit in houses built before the 1930s where the fireplace would have originally contained a cast iron range

 

[yorksbuilder]

It's commonly done. My last house had a large opening that had been made much smaller with bricks so that a gas fire could be fitted in. It all came out easily and we put in a wood burning stove

 

[Wasn'tme]

It's commonly done. My last house had a large opening that had been made much smaller with bricks so that a gas fire could be fitted in. It all came out easily and we put in a wood burning stove

Turns out it's only held in with plaster, managed to dig a gap round it with a Stanley. Nearly out now, going to leave it overnight and see if anything above it moves. Thanks for responding!