Options for fireplace removal

Gloomendoom

chamelious wrote: »

Really? A pointless, useless, space consuming hunk of black metal stuck in the corner of a tiny room?

Honestly, it seems utterly absurd that anyone would find that attractive.

Its taking up space, its getting removed one way or another. I dont care what any future buyers of the house think.

Some idiot of a previous owner removed a bedroom fireplace like that in our house.

It has now been reinstated.

DigForVictory

When we had our house rewired, they found a fireplace like this & we were delighted.
I appreciate it's not the ideal feature in a nursery, but cover it rather than hack it out, & wait. Give the young occupant a chance to grow up and grow into it.

phoebe1989seb

Gloomendoom wrote: »

Some idiot of a previous owner removed a bedroom fireplace like that in our house.

It has now been reinstated.

This ^

Past houses we've owned have all had daft POs remove original features such as that fireplace. In our current house all four bedroom fireplaces had been removed, whilst the three in the reception rooms had survived. So far we have reinstated three out of the four.

Where necessary over the years we have sourced and replaced any lost features with reclaimed examples and have spent many an afternoon trawling the local reclamation yard searching for the right one. When we've gone on to sell our buyers have been happy that these features exist/have been replaced with something fairly close to the original

DS grew up living on a building site - in fact we added a similar fireplace to his nursery - and is now replacing the ripped out features in his own home!

Perhaps the OP would be better off buying a more modern house?

chamelious

All houses (at least where i live) have fireplaces. All of them.

Any house we buy, we'll be taking them out.

I'm not having a massive section of a room unusable simply to facilitate an ugly piece of literally useless archaic furniture.

Peoples attitude towards this is utterly astonishing. We no longer need to burn wood to heat a house. Fireplaces are a waste of space.

Davesnave

chamelious wrote: »

Peoples attitude towards this is utterly astonishing. We no longer need to burn wood to heat a house. Fireplaces are a waste of space.

A small upstairs bedroom is different from a living room, so losing that particular fireplace would not be especially controversial IMO.

But not all fireplaces are a waste of space. Looking through Rightmove at modern properties, it's often obvious that some people's living rooms have no focal point, and when they do, it's quite frequently a huge TV. I may be a snob, but to me that doesn't cut it. It's like looking at a badly composed picture, where the eye roams around because there's nowhere for it to focus upon.

'Unsettling' is how I'd describe reception rooms like that.

I've put new fireplaces into all the houses I've owned. The present one does serve a function. Last night we were down to -2c and the house was toasty, thanks to our very efficient new stove and free wood. That's not for everyone, I know, but it makes a lot of sense here and it'll pay for itself.

chamelious

Davesnave wrote: »

A small upstairs bedroom is different from a living room, so losing that particular fireplace would not be especially controversial IMO.

But not all fireplaces are a waste of space. Looking through Rightmove at modern properties, it's often obvious that some people's living rooms have no focal point, and when they do, it's quite frequently a huge TV. I may be a snob, but to me that doesn't cut it. It's like looking at a badly composed picture, where the eye roams around because there's nowhere for it to focus upon.

'Unsettling' is how I'd describe reception rooms like that.

I've put new fireplaces into all the houses I've owned. The present one does serve a function. Last night we were down to -2c and the house was toasty, thanks to our very efficient new stove and free wood. That's not for everyone, I know, but it makes a lot of sense here and it'll pay for itself.

Thats fair man. The house DOES have a downstairs fireplace that we like and were planning on keeping.

Unfortunately i disagree on the focal point of a living room, ha. We use our living room to relax and watch TV, so the TV is the focal point. A lot of houses do have a fireplace right where we want a tv, which is why we assumed we were going to have to remove the downstairs fireplace of any house we buy.

DaftyDuck

You should do to your own house what you want, for your own purposes. However, you should be aware that may not suit resale, if others don't like it, and it's always a good thing to question your own motivations.

So, worth questioning some of your own statements:

All houses (at least where i live) have fireplaces. All of them.

Thus implying most people like, and retain fireplaces. They do so for a reason. You are a FTB. Are you (yet) sure your reason supplants theirs? You may change your mingd later, and that may be doubly costly...

Any house we buy, we'll be taking them out.

Don't be quite so dogmatic at first - You may grow to like or respect them...

I'm not having a massive section of a room unusable simply to facilitate an ugly piece of literally useless archaic furniture.

Massive? looks like about 3 feet max of wall space, and it's not made unusable.. you can stick furniture above (shelving) or in front, or keep it as a decorative focal point, with flowers in it, say. Ugly? the consensus on this Forum, and of all those other home-owners where you live, is that they aren't ugly in general, and that one looks fine. Useless and archaic? Well, you have a lightbulb, so windows are archaic and useless...

You may not choose to burn wood (yours is a coal fireplace by the way) but, not only is it "all the rage and fashionable", it's decorative, and economically sensible in many circumstances. Me, I'm busy installing a rather massive heating system centred around ye olde fashioned wood burners, but combined with air source heat pumps and solar p.v./thermal.

But, I repeat, do what you want with your house. I doubt many would install heating similar to what I am (and most will think me mildly insane!) but, I assure you, experience buying and selling tells me that, once done, it will be a major selling point should I choose to sell. Your house is yours to do what you will (within planning and building control laws, of course)..
However

Peoples attitude towards this is utterly astonishing....

Do question your attitude, as much as ours. The weight of opinion on this thread, and from your own description of your local housing stock does suggest you might be the one with the more astonishing attitude!

Its taking up space, its getting removed one way or another. I dont care what any future buyers of the house think.

Neither do I, really, and I've bought and sold a fair few houses..... However, I do care how much they'll pay me for my house when I do sell it, how many of them will want to buy it, and how easily it will shift! that fireplace will add a few hundred quid or more to the sale price, and its absence will probably cost you a buyer or two!

But, in the end, your house, your life...

Silvertabby

Re the bedroom fireplace - instead of just ripping it out, have the best of both worlds and have a look at Jali or a similar company. They make bespoke screens for radiators/fireplaces etc that can be painted to match the rest of the decor. That way you won't have a ventilation problem, and the fireplace is still there for when you sell the house.

https://www.jali.co.uk

chamelious

DaftyDuck wrote: »

You should do to your own house what you want, for your own purposes. However, you should be aware that may not suit resale, if others don't like it, and it's always a good thing to question your own motivations.

So, worth questioning some of your own statements:

Thus implying most people like, and retain fireplaces. They do so for a reason. You are a FTB. Are you (yet) sure your reason supplants theirs? You may change your mingd later, and that may be doubly costly...

Don't be quite so dogmatic at first - You may grow to like or respect them...

Massive? looks like about 3 feet max of wall space, and it's not made unusable.. you can stick furniture above (shelving) or in front, or keep it as a decorative focal point, with flowers in it, say. Ugly? the consensus on this Forum, and of all those other home-owners where you live, is that they aren't ugly in general, and that one looks fine. Useless and archaic? Well, you have a lightbulb, so windows are archaic and useless...

You may not choose to burn wood (yours is a coal fireplace by the way) but, not only is it "all the rage and fashionable", it's decorative, and economically sensible in many circumstances. Me, I'm busy installing a rather massive heating system centred around ye olde fashioned wood burners, but combined with air source heat pumps and solar p.v./thermal.

But, I repeat, do what you want with your house. I doubt many would install heating similar to what I am (and most will think me mildly insane!) but, I assure you, experience buying and selling tells me that, once done, it will be a major selling point should I choose to sell. Your house is yours to do what you will (within planning and building control laws, of course)..
However Do question your attitude, as much as ours. The weight of opinion on this thread, and from your own description of your local housing stock does suggest you might be the one with the more astonishing attitude!

Neither do I, really, and I've bought and sold a fair few houses..... However, I do care how much they'll pay me for my house when I do sell it, how many of them will want to buy it, and how easily it will shift! that fireplace will add a few hundred quid or more to the sale price, and its absence will probably cost you a buyer or two!

But, in the end, your house, your life...

Thanks for all this.

I appreciate all these points, and would be keeping the fireplace for re-instating.

I appreciate my attitude appeared somewhat aggressive, apologies, wasn't really my intent.

I do appreciate the points about resale, the problem with this particular house is its really only just big enough for us, we really need all the usable space possible. The room its in isn't a "spare" room to have a bed and never get used, its the only other bedroom other than the master and will be used for a studio.

keith969

chamelious wrote: »

I'm not having a massive section of a room unusable simply to facilitate an ugly piece of literally useless archaic furniture.

I thought the same, so I removed the TV.