Is it possinle to buy new hearths/surrounds new fire tiles for old baxi fires?

ohmochraich

I have an old Baxi back boiler and outset fire in my living room (was insitu when I bought my house). I have no issue with the back boiler as it works fine, and I know I have to stick with the fire font until such time as I replace the boiler (hopefully a long way off).

But the surround is truly horrible and the tiles on the hearth and around the back of the fire are hideous (think country kitchen in the '80's flower type - lovely for some - sadly not for me - I like cream/black/plain! type things).

Is it difficult to replace the suround and hearth/tiles? - I take it the tiles would need to be heat proof (where would you find these?). could you use any surround and hearth or would they have to be a specific type? could you maybe paint the tiles or something (i take it you would need special paint?

Sorry for all the questions but I have no idea if it is even possible to do half of these things but I desperately want rid of the flowers....

I live very rurally and don't drive so any links to online sources and any advice on how to 'modernise' a functional but not decorative baxi set up greatly appreciated. :T

squeekswhenwalking

you can re tile, no prob with any ceramic tile as the heat on the surface isn't that great, no flammable materials should be used though, wooden fire surrounds need to be sufficiently far away, make sure not to block any air-inlet gaps around fire. as boiler is old would recommend a gas safe engineer checks it out too. BTW you can get new fire fronts for baxi bermuda bbu's

rustyboy21

There is no problem at all retiling around the fire you have fitted, they don't even have to be heat resistant. Just don't go for very delicate tiles, you want a bit of a robust tile, they won't get Too hot.

Unfortunately the above poster is incorrect in saying you can get replacement firefronts for the BBU's now. If you have the old style ' outset fire ' fitted ( PW5,SL3,SP3,RG3.LFE5 etc) you will not be able to get a new fire for it, they are not made anymore. any newer ones like the elctric fronts for the CBBU will not fit and the boiler won't work either.

ohmochraich

thanks for that!
I had looked into replacing the fire with the outset black and glass more 'modern' looking one (not that any of the old ones are modern - but the fire itself I can live with - its the horrible surround and tiles I can't.

there is a screwed in metal plate on the underside of the mantle (looks like it is there to deflect heat/protect the wood) - so I take it that if I were to buy a modern surround/hearth and swap these - and screw the metal plate to the underside of it - that would be ok?

would I need to get a fitter in to take the fire off or is this something I could do safely (obviously I would have them in to check everything was safe afterwards -but would I need to get them in to disconnect the fire too?

Thanks so much for your help - I really appreciate people sharing their knowledge. :beer:

rustyboy21

You would ned a fitter to disconnect the fire, so you can do what yu require.
You can make them look 100% better with swapping the old fireplace with something newer, you could do marble back and hearth and wood surround.

I would suggest a visit to your local fireplace retailers. Go armed with photos of what you have at the mo, take measurements for the hearth requirements, so you don't have to get new carpet/flooring etc. Also, measure how high it is from the floor, to where the legs start on the fire, your new hearth will have to be made specifically for this height.

I would also suggest you labour on the point of it being a BBU, there are slight specifics as to what you need from the back panel, it will be a standard size, but a slightly larger cut out for the fire. You won't be able to do this off the peg or from the internet, it shouldn't really cost much more than standard, it just means that certain sizes have to be changed. Thats why I am saying go to an Independant fireplace retailer, he should have the experience and abilility to sort everything out for you.

Lastly, , if you get a decent sized surround, you shouldn't really need that baffle plate, keep it though, just in case he does.

Don't worry, it is easy to sort, but needs the right people to sort it for you and shouldn't cost a lot more, it's just the specifics that need sorting.

Go in and ask for a survey. A lot of us now, will do them. I do but charge £75 for it, which is refunded when you buy from me. Just ensures that if we don't get the job, all the measuring and working out which will take time and fuel costs etc are paid for. As long as you are happy with that , yuo won't have to worry about ordering wrong.

shegirl

Retiling should be easy enough.My new house has an awful fireplace (no backboiler though,thankfully)-horrid beigey marble style tiles with a couple that have been replaced with grey ones.It's pretty miserable lol and I've been looking at retiling it (need to do something so it goes with my grey and plum colour scheme).The tiles specifically for fireplaces seem quite pricey for tiles though.

squeekswhenwalking

rustyboy21 wrote: »

Unfortunately the above poster is incorrect in saying you can get replacement firefronts for the BBU's now. If you have the old style ' outset fire ' fitted ( PW5,SL3,SP3,RG3.LFE5 etc) you will not be able to get a new fire for it, they are not made anymore. any newer ones like the elctric fronts for the CBBU will not fit and the boiler won't work either.

try looking around they are available, but doesnt sound like you want a fire, but if you do try here:
http://www.gas-fire.gb.com/baxiberm.htm

Oldsoak

If you want a tile that will resist heat (even direct heat) you can use a class 5 porcelain. The classification relates to the hardness and the basics are that the harder the porcelain the longer or hotter it was fired for. I've tiled several old open fires with this class of tile and they will resist 1000C.
Good luck.

ohmochraich

thanks so much for all of this info - maybe my fire isn't such a disaster area after all - I will investigate whether we have a local independent store and failing that will see how much it is likely to cost me.
Once again - thanks for all your help.:beer: