Suggestions for boarded up fireplace please!

yumyums

We recently moved into a house where the fireplace has been boarded up and it doesn't look very nice the way it is. I'd like to do something about it and was hoping for some suggestions.

The opening has been boarded over with plasterboard and wallpapered. The "tiles" in the photo are a stick-on wallpaper border.

We started knocking through to see what was behind the plasterboard and found there was also a thin metal sheet blocking the opening. It appears to be part of a fire that was there before maybe? There's some writing on it which says "this plate must accompany its fire and be properly installed as part of it". There are a few small openings in the plate and when we shone a torch through it could see the fireplace opening - bare brick which doesn't appear to be in great condition.

There is also an electrical wire running through the fireplace (!) to provide power to the socket on the right of the fireplace so we'd need to get an electrician in if we want to open the fireplace up properly.

Here's a picture of the fireplace before we started messing around with it:



Some further info:
The house is 1930s built and there is no longer a chimney... don't know where it went!

How can we make the chimney breast look less naff? I'd love a proper fire but this is not an option without a chimney.

The options I've come up with so far are:

1. Cover it over and leave the chimney breast plain (we are having fitted alcove units installed on either side). I don't think I'm a fan of plain chimney breasts though.

2. Cover it over and put an electric fire suite in front of it if I can find a good enough looking one.

3. Knock it through and get the brickwork fixed. Put an electric stove thing in the hole. Would I need to do anything else for this option to work?

Any more ideas from you experts out there? This is my first house so I am pretty much clueless and grateful for any inspiration!

silvercar

If there is no chimney above you could knock the chimney breast out completely and gain a wider room!

If you want to leave it in place you could go traditional and put a flue-less fire in there or you could abandon the fire completely. Have shelves made and stick the sky box, DVD and surround sound boxes in the fireplace and put a flat screen TV on the wall above.

yumyums

silvercar wrote: »

If there is no chimney above you could knock the chimney breast out completely and gain a wider room!

If you want to leave it in place you could go traditional and put a flue-less fire in there or you could abandon the fire completely. Have shelves made and stick the sky box, DVD and surround sound boxes in the fireplace and put a flat screen TV on the wall above.

Hi Silvercar.
Knocking the chimney breast out isn't an option as we're due to have the alcove units fitted soon and they'd look strange without a chimney breast between them!
Also it's our dining room so would rather not go down the TV route..

Interested in your idea about the flueless fire though - do you mean something like this?

Would we just have to find a fire that's the right size to fit in the gap?

I don't know anything about flueless etc - is flueless gas a better option than electric? Obviously the flame will look better but are there any other benefits?

Also between the mantel and the opening there is bare plaster so if we did put a fire of some sort in the opening would it be best to tile over the plaster to make it look right?

Sorry for all the questions

amcluesent

Flueless gas and electric are terribly costly to run and inefficient, I assume you have C/H?

Why not use candles to create a centrepiece and the impression of a fire ?

jordanb84

Hi, I;m kind of in the same situation, and I am thinking of going for a bio fuel fire, which runs on bioethanol, which means no electricity or gas supply needed, and also doesnt need use of a flue or a chimney, have a wee look on google for bio fuel fires

muskoka

There are loads of different styles - traditional & modern of flueless fires. You dont need a flue/fireplace to fit them BUT you do need correct ventilation. i.e. the gas fitted who fits the fire can fit a special vent (for example a 4" vent that goes directly out through an external wall) to ensure room is correctly vented. Your fire fitter can advise you on this. Vent can be tucked down low in wall maybe behind loose furniture so its unobtrusive. I've had one fitted before and with the vent & its not been draughty and was fine.

shabbyrose

If you do decide to take the fireplace out. Make sure you don't throw out the surround. This looks art deco to me and could be worth something. I won a fireplace in a raffle and I have been looking at companies on the internet that will buy fireplaces, and most of them seem to specialize in antique fireplaces and surrounds.

edgex

shabbyrose wrote: »

If you do decide to take the fireplace out. Make sure you don't throw out the surround. This looks art deco to me and could be worth something. I won a fireplace in a raffle and I have been looking at companies on the internet that will buy fireplaces, and most of them seem to specialize in antique fireplaces and surrounds.

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:


its a naff copy of a robert adam fireplace, either wood/mdf or plaster,
& most likely fitted during the 1980's

shabbyrose

edgex wrote: »

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:


its a naff copy of a robert adam fireplace, either wood/mdf or plaster,
& most likely fitted during the 1980's

Shows how much I know LOL:rotfl:

Doozergirl

Please take out those fake arches either side. That's not original and must have been put in by the same people that thought the fake Adams surround was tasteful. I wonder if that's the same people that thought the starfish were a good idea as well.

I couldn't do anything but put in a new, tasteful fireplace, even if it didn't work. What amcluescent suggested is a nice compromise. If it's a 1930s house then what was there was probably a tiled number and ugly. There probably isn't anything lovely hiding behind what you have there.

You can make quite a cheap surround look nice by painting it. Prize that urn relief off and the accompanying swags off and knock out the hole and you might get it to pass.

ukmaggie45

Doozergirl wrote: »

Please take out those fake arches either side. That's not original and must have been put in by the same people that thought the fake Adams surround was tasteful. I wonder if that's the same people that thought the starfish were a good idea as well.

I so agree about those fake arches! We're currently renovating a house that was obviously designed in the 30s (planning was granted in 1939) but didn't get built till 1955. OP, your photo doesn't quite show the ceiling, I wonder if it is rounded off where it meets the walls? We just had the whole house replastered, and plasterer has done a great job of preserving the curves, and even has installed in the bedroom in extension to match rest of house. Here's a picture of living room, plaster not fully dried out yet.


Lights in the living room by ukmaggie45, on Flickr

We're lucky in that the chimney is still there, so we're having a hole in the wall gas fire installed. I think if we weren't able to have that I'd prob have chosen one of the flame effect electric fires - some of them really do look quite good, unlike the ones from the 50s and 60s. :rotfl: Possibly something like this, which seems to be on offer at £395 at present. Or Amcluesent's idea is nice too if you don't need an additional heat source.

Have fun making your first house your first home! :beer: