Red brick decorative open fireplace

[Hopelesslyhoping]

Hi all, first post here, any advice would be appreciated! I just bought a new flat and I’m decorating the living room on next to no budget.

There is an old fireplace which I’m guessing used to have some sort of gas appliance installed. There is some black soot on the brickwork so maybe it also has been used as an open fireplace in the past?

Some of the brickwork is quite crumbly, the cement between it has seen better days and it’s been dusty as hell to clean (I’ve been using a wire brush and a vacuum so far). The chimney has a boarded ceiling, though it still smells a bit sooty, which is a bit of a problem.

Ideally i’d like to keep it open and have a space for some candles and have a little open fireplace space as a feature in the living room. Any ideas on how to go about this properly would be great! Sorry about the lengthy post. Thanks everyone!!

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

The number of pipes, suggest there might have been a back-boiler type fire there. What does the flat presently use for heating water?

 

[ree]

OP,
You need a plumber to identify the pipes & your plumbing system - a plumber could remove them and cap them off or re-route them to prevent air blockages or dead legs.
If a redundant gas pipe is ID'ed then only a GasSafe can work on it.

google: brick cleaning cup brush.

The open soil base of the fire opening could do with a bit of DPM and, say, some new brick "flooring".
The flue board should be carefully (soot and debris) removed & the flue swept. Then a new backerboard
could be fitted.
You would need a new Hit&Miss flue vent installed on the face of the c/breast just above the backerboard height. Brick up the opening on the LH side.

 

[lostinthelight]

How old is the property, it looks like it could be lime mortar between the bricks