Fireplace - changing it back to open fire

cally1_2

We have just moved into lovely new house. In the living room there is currently a fireplace with wood mantlepiece, fake? marble tiles on wall and on hearth. An electric fire.

We don't like the fireplace at all and would want to remove the whole thing and replace. We also would like a real fire... not electric or gas.

Is this a good time of year to get bargains for fireplaces?

Would there be a lot of work to make the fireplace suitable for a real fire?

Thanks

cally1_2

Forgot to ask,

Would we need a builder for this or would a shop for fireplaces organsie this for us? Obviously for least possible cost but to a good and safe standard!

tanith

First thing to check is wether the chimney is open and clear... you need a clear chimney that has not been blocked up to have a real fire....

If its clear and open then its a relatively simple thing , just depends if you are reasonable with DIY you would of course have to remove all the old stuff, make good the walls etc and replace with the new.... I am sure a shop would orgainise this for you if you were not up to it yourselves....

FirstClassMale

I agree with tanith. You can buy smoke pellets to test the draw of the chimney or, if you're a smoker, a cigarette can work too.

You don't necessarily need a builder. Just someone who knows what they're doing. We used a plasterer as he knows all about "smoke shelves" etc and he made good the walls after too

Heath_Robinson

I had a guy from Dampco out to give me a quote the other day for a chemical DPC and he was saying I should open up my fireplace, "just take out all the bricks about a foot on either side of the hole and 9" or so back" I asked if that was something a fireplace company would do when we ave one put in and he looked at me like I was odd and said why wouldn't I do it myself. It's all filler apparently and should come out easy enough. Not sure though. There are some nice fireplaces if you look in the architectural antiques section on ebay. Stick in your postcode to find ones close to you, as collection is obviously a must.

cally1_2

Thanks some good advice.

Where would I get one of those smoke pellet things?