Gas Fire to Open Fire

joe427

I moved into my house in July, and have a lovely fireplace. It's the first thing people comment on when they walk in the door.

Originally it was a gas fire, I got disconnected when the plumber was installing the boiler a month or two back.

Today, decided to rip out the gas fire and open up the fireplace. Called a Chimney Sweep and had the Chimney swept.

However, as soon as the guy walked in he said that fireplace has been designed for a gas fire. I've been told that open fire place surrounds are in separate pieces, to allow expansion and have some sort of rope seal to stop smoke seeping out of the edges. Apparently my gas fire surround is missing all of this, and is one piece. Also the hearth is one piece and any sealant used on the fireplace wont cope with the heat.

Next, the Chimney sweep brought down one or two small bits of the original lining. The guy said, as I don't have chimney pot either, its possible it could be part of it OR the lining is ageing and wearing out.

Conclusion, is that in its current state - if I chuck a basket in and light a fire its possible the fireplace surround will crack or come off the wall and its possible smoke may leak somewhere. However its also possible none of this will happen and I will be perfectly fine.

He said it will fail any smoke test because of the fireplace surround.

Anyone had any experience with this before? The thought of a nice fire for winter is now becoming an expensive one - theres me thinking rip the gas fire out, sweep it, and chuck in a basket and away we go :rotfl:

Also, I am fully aware of the heat loss of an open fire compared to a log burner and accept this.

The only good thing, is that ventilation I got plenty off - which is under the floorboards (Need to put a vent in).

rustyboy21

The sweep is telling you that you need your back panel and hearth cut into 4 pieces and slabbed up with concrete, otherwise the marble etc will crack. The hearth would have been fitted with small amounts of cement, just to level it, so any air caught underneath will expand with the heat and crack the surface open.


You will also not have the required depth for a solid fuel hearth, this is normally made to be 18'' deep and usually has a plate around the fire opening, to stop ash marking the hearth.


It sounds like your flue is dodgy too, it is either the liner has deteriorated or something has fallen down the flue. Your sweep should be able to offer a remedy for you, but it will cost. The problem you have now is that you couldn't put another gas fire in, until everything is sorted and you cannot put a solid fuel tray in, for exactly the same reasons, as well as the fireplace being incorrect to conform to regs.


Either get the sweep to offer a remedy, or go into your local fireplace shop and get them to sort out what you can do. Going DIY and buying things off the internet is not the way to go in your case, you will be throwing good money away.


Cheapest option would be to fit an electric fire.