New Fireplace Install (Opening Off Centre)

[dagb]

First post so Hi everyone

We live in a first floor Victorian flat.

In our dining room there is a chimney breast (1.9m wide), there has been (ever since we moved in) a horrible gas fire fitted (Gem Flame), we've never used it at all. It was one that was fitted against the chimney breast, not in it.

The room is the last room to be gutted. We've had the fire disconnected by our plumber and I have removed it from the chimney breast. Both the fire and the opening behind it were off centre (by about 15 cm).

I can only presume this is due to the fact that the flue for the ground floor flat will run up through our chimney breast (lady who lives below has a working gas fire fitted).

Our intention is to fit something like this http://www.granite-products.com/images/fireplaces/traditional/the-dublin-corbel-black.jpg

We only intend to it as a decorative fire though (stick some logs and maybe some Xmas style lights in it or just candles...whatever), the room is warm enough (like I mentioned above we never used the old fire) as it is, it's a decent size room (6m x 4.5m with 3m ceilings) and a fire like that is in keeping with the character of the property.

The crux is this......ideally we'd like the new fire to be fitted centrally into the chimney breast.

Is the easiest option (and safest/cheapest) going to be to extend the width of the breast on one side using studwork/plasterboard so the off centre hole ends up in the middle?

Or keep the breast the same width but bring the breast out so I can make a new opening for the new fire (in the middle).

We always planned have the room skimmed and fit new skirting/coving etc, installing studwork/boarding doesn't phase me too much, but I don't want to start messing with the existing opening myself.

I am having a builder who I have used in the past coming over next week to check it out, just in case it is possible to widen the opening on one side. A bigger lintel maybe required of course (the breast is wallpapered, but will be removed before the builder comes around).

What have people done in the past?

Thanks for looking

 

[DalMaca]

thats a good cheap option on one side (extend one side of the wall with stud and plaster to bring it to middle)

but why not use it as a fire (free heat) other than that in my house mine was off center i think it was 2 bricks wide on the left and 3 wide on the right to alow for back boiler, i tried and tried to get it central in the end i knocked it all out, got a new lintel and re built the just the uprights 2 bricks wide either side.

if your just going to have a effect in there like a Red bulb or candles you could like you say extend the shorter side of the wall (eg 4" of stud and board" or make the whole smaller (X amount on the opposite side) this would also be even cheaper as you covering less area then bond/plaster (if no heat is intended) the inside (box) and paint to your desired color.