Ugly fireplace lintel - what are my options?

[OrangeSoda]

Hey all. I've posted before for help on this project so thank you for your views and comments so far. We're renovating the fireplace and installing a wood burner. There's one last thing in my head I haven't worked out an approach for yet and it's the main concrete lintel (highlighted in the photo). The lintel is enormous and really doesn't look very nice. We're working towards a traditional exposed brick style feature but the lintel is just a big eye sore in that plan.

The lintel dimensions L x W x H are 1200mm x 90mm x 230mm

So far I've thought about:

-Covering it with something not really sure what though. Considered a large hollowed out piece of wood but not sure how practical that is and might not meet code being so close to the stove

-Remove it and replace with a new lintel

-Plaster or coat the lintel but don't feel this will fit the aesthetic we are aiming for


Any thoughts out there or options I'm not considering?

 

[^woody^]

Doesn't the lintel fit in with the brick "aesthetic"?

 

[OrangeSoda]

I just don't think it looks that great right now. Perhaps if we get that final bit of plaster off the front and tidy it up a bit maybe it'll be ok then

 

[Mr Chibs]

You could cover in wood, mantle type, or even find brick slips and lay soldier course onto the lintel.

Depends on how creative and time you want to spend.

What are you envisaging doing with left and right faces of the chimney? looks like the inner skin has been knocked off and is proud of the facings.

 

[^woody^]

I'd just brush some clear seal on it and would then be happy to look at it all night long instead of ITV

 

[OrangeSoda]

You could cover in wood, mantle type, or even find brick slips and lay soldier course onto the lintel.

Depends on how creative and time you want to spend.

What are you envisaging doing with left and right faces of the chimney? looks like the inner skin has been knocked off and is proud of the facings.

Didn't consider brick slips, will give that some thought thanks! And yes unfortunately at one time someone decided it would be a good idea to ruin the brickwork.. I'm not sure yet to be honest. I figure once we have removed the infill bricks to achieve the full length opening we will assess the condition. If we can find a good match then may replace them.

I'd just brush some clear seal on it and would then be happy to look at it all night long instead of ITV

Good idea

 

[If in doubt...]

I’m thinking wait till the infill bricks are gone and then with the larger space the lintel might sit in better visually. Also in my mind it depends on what else is happening on that whole wall, depending on how busy or sparse it will all be and what you want to be the main features that stand out - that might help decide whether you then want to highlight or hide the lintel. I don’t think it’s ugly enough to warrant hiding and if all tidied up I personally like to see original / structural bits like that on show.

 

[Pat ex]

I covered mine with a couple of large pieces of old oak, with a space for the lintel cut out of the underside of the oak, so that the lintel edge and ends could not be seen.
I needed two pieces due to the depth of the lintel from the wall. But the join down the middle (parallel with the wall) is hardly noticeable.
Yours is deep and narrow, so the timber would be more covering the face than the top.
You could include brackets on the underside of the timber, fixed to the wall, which would be hidden by any plaster.

 

[OrangeSoda]

Just wanted to post back an update and show you that I've now gotten the infill bricks removed and tidied up the opening. I've tried to save as many bricks as possible so far in the hopes I can reuse for when it comes to repairing of the inner skin on left/right sides.

It's starting to get easier to imagine what it will look like and agree with a lot of your comments, we will just keep the lintel as it is for now, we can always go back and cover it up if we really don't like it at the end. But I think it will look OK!

Just pondering what to do with the hearth. It's a shame half of it has been knocked out as it looks like it was very nice at one time.

Also some repair to do on the rear wall as you can see