knocking down brick fireplace - what next

sunshune

Thanks Barney's mom

I am going to have to help her cover up her furniture as the doors in her house have a gap at the bottom so I imagine the dust is going to go everywhere!

I'll let her know about the vent

Thanks for your help

Sambucus -I'm still confused as to why it needs removing for safety reasons in the first place. Is it falling down/over/out? It is none of these reasons but thanks for asking.

sunshune

this is the closest picture I could find on the internet

http://www.wantsandoffers.com/images/userimgs/6118/brick-fire-place_49381_1.jpg

Leif

sunshune wrote: »

this is the closest picture I could find on the internet

http://www.wantsandoffers.com/images/userimgs/6118/brick-fire-place_49381_1.jpg

Aha. The part that projects out from the wall, and goes up to the ceiling is the chimney breast. Removing that would be structural work, and must be done correctly. According to earlier posts it also requires building regulations approval.

The brick part that surrounds the fire opening is called a surround, and that can be removed by anyone. The raised step on the floor in front of the opening is a hearth. That can be removed by anyone.

I assume that what is being done is removal of the surround and hearth, repairs to the floor where the hearth went (removal can leave holes), and then plaster board and plaster over the opening, with a vent.

The vent is needed to allow air flow. Without it the chimney flue will collect damp, which is not good, unless you also block the chimney. Having some air flow in a house is not a bad idea anyway.

This is an easy job for builders, and a competent plasterer. Some homeowners would do it themselves.

Regarding my experience, I had incompetent bathroom fitters. Fortunately a Trading Standards officer has seen the evidence, and agrees that the work was unacceptable, and that the excuses given by the cowboys are unacceptable. He is about to mediate as fortunately the cowboys were on a TS list of approved trades. :eek: Sadly he did not intervene until 5 months after the work was done, due to poor communication between Consumer Direct and Tradings Standards.

The best way to find trades is via personal recommendation from people you trust.IMO you should NEVER use one of the advertising sites such as MyBuilder and CheckATrade, as they are not for your benefit, and some of their trades are bodgers. If you cannot get one by recommendation, then perhaps one approved by Trading Standards is an alternative. Although the cowboys I used were approved by Trading Standard, it does seem that unlike CheckATrade et al, if one of these trades does a bad job, Trading Standards will intervene and mediate on your behalf. In contrast my experience with CheckATrade is that they do not give a damn, and will not mediate, or put any pressure on the trade to resolve the problem. (When I asked CheckATradee what steps they were taking to deal with the cowboys, they said they could not give details due to data protection laws. Someone should tell them that I do not believe in the Easter Bunny and Father Christmas.)

warehouse

sunshune wrote: »

this is the closest picture I could find on the internet

http://www.wantsandoffers.com/images/userimgs/6118/brick-fire-place_49381_1.jpg

I had something similar done here. If I can find the pictures quickly it'll give you an idea. I'll be back!!

sunshune

thank you

but it is just the bricks that are coming down so as you sy the surround and hearth not the chimney breast as that was something she couldn't afford maybe in a few years time.

it is so hard as she has had bad luck numerous of times.


Gosh CheckAt tradee sound like a nightmare - they wouldn't give you any details at all! what about under the FOI act

I had an incompetent bathroom fitter too. Just this week my husband had to stay home while the fitter refitted the shower encloser. The bathroom was fitted over a year ago but caused terrible damage to our kitchen ceiling and cupboards. All the time I kept ringing him to fix it he said it was the sealant and not the dodgy valve he put in (this was told to us by a plumber). I threatened him with 2 small claims court letter and that got his A** into gear so we are going to see how the shower is over the next few weeks.

I almost feel like we should put ourselves on a few DIY courses so we at least have an idea of what is going on.

warehouse

Unfortunately I can't find the picture of the original fireplace, but it was a lot like the picture you posted. I removed the bricks and hearth and the insides, (very very messy), and it looked like this:



Notice that nothing else needed doing as there is support there for the chimney breast. We intended to use the breast for a TV and equipment, as you'll see in the last photo. We got the chimney swept and capped.

Here it is ready for the plasterer to start work, with hole drilled for TV cables.



After the plaster had finished it looked like this. He used plaster board for the inside of the chimney area, and plastered over that. The whole thing took less than a day and cost me £200. Again, messy.



After painting, re-wiring and finishing the whole room, it now looks like this. We love it.

sunshune

oh thanks warehouse that is great i am going to show this to my sister right now. I am going to ask her to take a picture of hers and mail it to me so i can post on here.

THe tv looks good like that is it difficult to drill the hole for the wires. I think thats what she wants to do. Where are the plug sockets? and did you have to put a vent in too?

sunshune

ok i was trying to post the picture but it is not working

sunshune

did you literally cut and paste the picture? I can't seem to get it to work at all

warehouse

Go to tinypic.com

Upload the pictures one at a time

Get a link to post on messageboard forums after each upload

Post link on here including the IMG tags.