Inglenook question

[stonehouse]

Hello,

I wish to install a cast iron cooker in the inglenook in my kitchen. However, the brick arch lintel is too low, so I need to raise it.

The house was built around 1880.

Below are 2 photos. In the second photo, there appears to be 'mini-lintel' made from stone (blue arrow), at 90 degrees angle to the brick arch lintel. What is it for? If I remove the mini-lintel, will the gather (throat) above fall down?

The stone mini-lintel doesn't appear to be bonded inside the brickwork front and back, it just rests between the walls at a slight slope. Is this normal?


Any advice please?

 

[Doggit]

Unfortunately, the second picture isn't very clear, but that shouldn't be an issue. You need to construct a former for the new arch, and a method of supporting it. Then you carefully take out the bricks to just above the level you want, and then put the former in position, and rebuild the arch. Now you may have to redo the throat if you go too high, but that's a common sense approach getting the bricks in securely. You'll need a few bits of slate to pack the bricks with to keep everything tight.