restoring a fire chamber

[Heidi]

We have just had a back boiler removed from the lounge fireplace and intend to open it up for a solid fuel open fire. I dont want to use a pre made fire back, and just want a 'whole in the wall' , so an opening with a basket. the bricks in the fire chamber are a mess and I need to rebuild the chamber (re line it I guess?) I was going to use fire bricks to do so, but have now been told I can use a sand and cement mixture to render the existing bricks. Is this going to withstand the heat??

any advice appreciated

H

 

[oilman]

.........have now been told I can use a sand and cement mixture to render the existing bricks.

Cement based renders have a habit of cracking and falling off. Do some research on lime based render. This used to be used for lining the inside of chimneys, and is able to flex more so it is less likely to crack. You do not need to use ANY cement in a lime render.

 

[TexMex]

A bit off thread but apparently the damage sustained in London during the blitz would have been much more savere if it weren't for the fact that, houses in those days were built almost exclusively with Lime mortar.

In some cases they recon that walls bowed in by an entire foot from the shock waves of nearby explosions and then simply bounced back. Cement based mortar would have simply shattered resulting in much greater destruction.

As you may gather I'm a bit of a fan of Lime mortar and think it is under valued in modern building practices. Mmmm Lime morar ignore me I'm rambling.