Plaster near stove

Leif

I will probably have a Charnwood c-four (17" wide) in a 23" wide fireplace opening, which is inset into the wall. At the moment the wall is gypsum plaster to the edge of the opening, albeit a bit rough at the edges.

Were I to get the plaster patched at the edges, would it be okay, or would the heat crack it? A plasterer has said that in his opinion it would likely crack at the top where the lintel is and he suggested hacking away the plaster to about half a metre all round, and putting in fireboard (not in the opening, just on the wall up to the edges of the opening). Thoughts, opinions?

Also, what do people generally prefer for the opening? At the moment it is brick, with somewhat rough mortar. It could be lime rendered, or fireboarded, or left as is, albeit with a bit of mortar shoved into the holes between bricks where mortar is absent.

muckybutt

A lot depends on taste to be honest. We did a cement render all around our fireplace as the bricks in our place are very old and weren't in great condition.

I like to see the brickwork if the bricks are ok.

As far as plastering, hack down to the brick, pva bond the exposed brickwork, then a good bonding plaster mix onto the wall, finally a skim - that shouldnt crack it too much, maybe a hairline crack after a few months but nothing too serious.

Leif

Thanks. The bricks are okay, not perfect, but the morter is a bit naff, it projects beyind the bricks in many places and with many holes.