Opening up a fireplace for log burner...

[timcunnell]

Hi guys

I hope this is the right forum to post this question!

I am just looking for a little advice or a few pointers really. I am totally gutting (have totally gutted) my lounge in order to completely re-decorate, including re-plastering, new floor etc etc. And I thought this presented the ideal opportunity to get rid of my old gas fireplace and install a log burner. I am hands-on with decent (though not professional!) DIY/building skills and done lots of projects over the years, so I definitely fancy doing as much of this myself as I can. However, I know that there are issues like CO that I don't want to mess with. And also don't want to end up with structural problems with the chimney, so I just want to avoid any pitfalls.

I've uploaded a picture of how my fireplace looks right now after I pulled off the surround, and took the grate out last night. It is quite easy to see where newer, red bricks have been added to reduce the opening so it fits the current fire insert (don't know the proper name!!).

So to me it looks like a fairly simple case of knocking these red bricks out to get the opening back to its original size. It looks like the original lintel is still in place? So my plan is to knock the red bricks out, then get the chimney breast re-plastered, get the inside walls/back of the fireplace rendered/plastered, fit a hearth of some sort, and then get someone to drop a flue down the chimney and connect this up to a free-standing stove which I've not bought yet.

Thing is, I can't help thinking this all sounds (fairly) easy!? Is there more to it and something obvious that I have overlooked?

Friends/work colleagues have been quoted £5k recently for this kind of work, so either I am missing something or in the wrong trade!?

Thanks in advance - I am really grateful for any advice you guys could share.

Cheers

Tim

 

[stuart45]

You can knock out the new bricks and fireback, but check out what woodburner you want and it's dimensions.

 

[Doggit]

It looks as though a lot of brickwork has been redone for quite a way up the chimney breast, and the original lintel may not be there any longer. I would be inclined the hack off the plaster for quite a way up, and look carefully at the brickwork, and decide how much needs redoing, and you may find there's a lot. If you look at the sides of newer bricks, it's more than possible that they've replaced the original ones, and what you can see is the size of the original opening, so as Stuart suggests, you need to ascertain the stove you want to use, and then build the opening accordingly. Reckon to take out the newer bricks, and set the lintel in about double the height of the current opening, but this may be tempered by the throat of the chimney.

Get the chimney swept before you do too much work to the opening, and that'll save you getting soot in your face.

You're going to need a closure plate, so you may need to take out some of the throat, and if you're capable of reasonable DIY, then think about putting up scaffolding, and drop the liner down yourself; but the caveat is how you feel about taking off the chimney pot off, so that you can put in vermiculite insulation, but you don't actually need a liner, although they make the stove more controllable.

Have a look at the stove fitters manual, and it'll give you a lot of help understanding what you need to do. You need to do this under a building control notice, and that'll cost about £140ish, and keep you legal.

 

[sparkymarka]

What ! That concreate lintel just above the red top bricks ?

 

[timcunnell]

Right - I've managed to get this far! Was an amazing amount of rubble behind the fireback!! But all now nicely opened up. Can now see the concrete lintel is supporting the opening and will remain in place.

My next step is to get the fireplace (and rest of the room) plastered. But I'm guessing I can't just get the inside of the fireplace skimmed out? Do I need fire/heat proof board to line the inside of the opening?

Also - can I chip out the concrete base? I think I need to, because it's pretty high, and obviously I want it to be flush with the hearth when I put that in, and don't want the hearth to sit that high really. The thing is I have whacked the concrete base a few times with a hammer and it doesn't even make a mark!! I was going to tackle it with an SDS chisel at the weekend, but is that sensible?

Thanks for any further advice!

 

[Doggit]

You need to ascertain the stove you're going to use before you can get it plastered, just in case you need to raise the opening by a few courses. The stove may well sit slightly into the room, and you'd then need to have a bend in the flue, so make sure of this before you start plastering. You can either clean the bricks up, or cement render, and then plaster inside the fireplace.

If the SDS drill doesn't work, then you'll need to hire a medium breaker, or just do it slowly an inch at a time from the front with a chisel and a bolster; a hammer won't be up to the job.

 

[timcunnell]

You need to ascertain the stove you're going to use before you can get it plastered, just in case you need to raise the opening by a few courses. The stove may well sit slightly into the room, and you'd then need to have a bend in the flue, so make sure of this before you start plastering. You can either clean the bricks up, or cement render, and then plaster inside the fireplace.

If the SDS drill doesn't work, then you'll need to hire a medium breaker, or just do it slowly an inch at a time from the front with a chisel and a bolster; a hammer won't be u to the job.

That's really helpful - thanks for the advice!

 

[sparkymarka]

Or cement fire board in the recess , then plaster up to the cement board , this can be painted