Hi
I've read a few posts about how to do this, and I'm hoping to get some feedback on my game plan to open up the fireplace in preparation for a small woodburning stove.
I'm planning to widen the opening as far as the pencil marks, i.e. the area directly below the existing lintel. I also want to move the lintel up by one row:
That seems straightforward enough - a new lintel cut to 92cm would replace the bricks I've exposed in the row above.
You might notice the bricks above the lintel are lower than the rest of the row. Not my fault, honest! I'm sure it must have been like that since it was built rather than being a result of my recent work as the mortar joints are full and the plaster hasn't cracked. Still, that make it a bit more of a hassle as the bricks above where the new lintel will be will have to be re-laid too.
So - first question: would you acrow / strongboy above in order to lay the new lintel and re-lay that row, or do you think I could safely do it without?
Next issue is that the mortar/brick gather is quite low - the closure plate would hit the bottom of it. The gather seems odd to me.. rather than a pyramid of bricks it has been built with bricks inserted diagonally:
It looks to me like I could demolish the gather as the clay pipe above would still be supported front and back but I'm unsure about this?
Finally.. I was surprised just how deep the pile of rubble and old metal Baxi ashpan went. I'm about 2 bricks below the floor level and still finding rubble. I'm thinking I just pour concrete to fill the hole, ready for a hearthstone to sit on top. Not sure whether it is necessary to have a layer of Cellotex in there, e.g. concrete/cellotex/screed?
Thanks in advance!
I've read a few posts about how to do this, and I'm hoping to get some feedback on my game plan to open up the fireplace in preparation for a small woodburning stove.
I'm planning to widen the opening as far as the pencil marks, i.e. the area directly below the existing lintel. I also want to move the lintel up by one row:
That seems straightforward enough - a new lintel cut to 92cm would replace the bricks I've exposed in the row above.
You might notice the bricks above the lintel are lower than the rest of the row. Not my fault, honest! I'm sure it must have been like that since it was built rather than being a result of my recent work as the mortar joints are full and the plaster hasn't cracked. Still, that make it a bit more of a hassle as the bricks above where the new lintel will be will have to be re-laid too.
So - first question: would you acrow / strongboy above in order to lay the new lintel and re-lay that row, or do you think I could safely do it without?
Next issue is that the mortar/brick gather is quite low - the closure plate would hit the bottom of it. The gather seems odd to me.. rather than a pyramid of bricks it has been built with bricks inserted diagonally:
It looks to me like I could demolish the gather as the clay pipe above would still be supported front and back but I'm unsure about this?
Finally.. I was surprised just how deep the pile of rubble and old metal Baxi ashpan went. I'm about 2 bricks below the floor level and still finding rubble. I'm thinking I just pour concrete to fill the hole, ready for a hearthstone to sit on top. Not sure whether it is necessary to have a layer of Cellotex in there, e.g. concrete/cellotex/screed?
Thanks in advance!
