Good evening all,
My query surrounds plastering and the installation of a gas fire. Would like to say up front I'm not doing any gas work myself, so will hopefully not violate this forum's very sensible rules on gas related posts.
Instead, it's the plastering element that I need help with.
I am wanting to switch the gas fire from a 1980's fire with a hearth and surround to a modern 'hang on the wall' Flavel affair.
I rather thought of doing some of the plastering myself, but having spoken to firstly my usual gas man and then to a specialist company I'm confused.
The specialist company took one look at the job and immediately said I would need to dry-line the whole wall and plaster over that to prevent cracking. Having not had the quote I'm not sure if they would use heat-proof plaster - and would they need to?
The gas man's view is opposite. He feels that simply going around the new cavity with heat-proof plaster would be sufficient, but when I pointed out the existing plaster is already cracked slightly he said that if I wanted he would suggest cutting out the existing plaster in a rectangle above the fire and replacing it with a concrete/wood fireproof board, which would not be plastered over. The finish would apparently match the remaining, original, plaster to either side.
I would value opinions on the following:
Whose approach is fundamentally the preferable, given that I only want to do this once and the quality of the finish is the primary factor?
Can a piece of board ever be fitted and finished so that it is indistinguishable from the existing plaster? I find that hard to believe.
If the entire wall needed dry-lining would the boarding have to be heat proof? Ditto the plaster? Or does the fact it's now dry-lined mean heat-proof plaster isn't necessary?
As an aside, it's looking like the block-work of the Class 2 pre-cast flue will have to be altered to accommodate the new fire. Again, I'm not going to be putting my tools anywhere near that particular hot potato but if anyone has informed opinions on the altering of flue's then that would be useful too.
Many thanks in advance.
My query surrounds plastering and the installation of a gas fire. Would like to say up front I'm not doing any gas work myself, so will hopefully not violate this forum's very sensible rules on gas related posts.
Instead, it's the plastering element that I need help with.
I am wanting to switch the gas fire from a 1980's fire with a hearth and surround to a modern 'hang on the wall' Flavel affair.
I rather thought of doing some of the plastering myself, but having spoken to firstly my usual gas man and then to a specialist company I'm confused.
The specialist company took one look at the job and immediately said I would need to dry-line the whole wall and plaster over that to prevent cracking. Having not had the quote I'm not sure if they would use heat-proof plaster - and would they need to?
The gas man's view is opposite. He feels that simply going around the new cavity with heat-proof plaster would be sufficient, but when I pointed out the existing plaster is already cracked slightly he said that if I wanted he would suggest cutting out the existing plaster in a rectangle above the fire and replacing it with a concrete/wood fireproof board, which would not be plastered over. The finish would apparently match the remaining, original, plaster to either side.
I would value opinions on the following:
Whose approach is fundamentally the preferable, given that I only want to do this once and the quality of the finish is the primary factor?
Can a piece of board ever be fitted and finished so that it is indistinguishable from the existing plaster? I find that hard to believe.
If the entire wall needed dry-lining would the boarding have to be heat proof? Ditto the plaster? Or does the fact it's now dry-lined mean heat-proof plaster isn't necessary?
As an aside, it's looking like the block-work of the Class 2 pre-cast flue will have to be altered to accommodate the new fire. Again, I'm not going to be putting my tools anywhere near that particular hot potato but if anyone has informed opinions on the altering of flue's then that would be useful too.
Many thanks in advance.
