I am fitting a closed wood burner and need to remove the existing
fireplace and need some advice.

There is a 1040x1040mm cast iron fireplace with 500mm wide fuel holder
suspended 150mm off the hearth, above an ash box. I want to remove all
this part. It all seems to be in a single piece of ironwork but there
are no visible fasteners, unless they are hidden by the handful of
Victorian tiles that decorate the sides. This ironwork is surrounded
by a 1740x1260mm marble mantle with pillars each side which I want to
leave as is.

I am wary of starting the job with a big hammer because I would like
to salvage the original fireplace and I don't want to take the risk
that some critical part is holding up a part of the chimney stack
There's a lot of house above me to fall down..

Any suggestions for me?

"Tim" wrote:
I am fitting a closed wood burner and need to remove the existing
fireplace and need some advice.

There is a 1040x1040mm cast iron fireplace with 500mm wide fuel holder
suspended 150mm off the hearth, above an ash box. I want to remove all
this part. It all seems to be in a single piece of ironwork but there
are no visible fasteners, unless they are hidden by the handful of
Victorian tiles that decorate the sides. This ironwork is surrounded
by a 1740x1260mm marble mantle with pillars each side which I want to
leave as is.

I am wary of starting the job with a big hammer because I would like
to salvage the original fireplace and I don't want to take the risk
that some critical part is holding up a part of the chimney stack
There's a lot of house above me to fall down..

Any suggestions for me?

Difficult to advise without a picture. Does it look as though the marble
mantle was fitted last? If so, it will be difficult to remove the cast iron
fireplace without damaging the marble.

Tim wrote:

I am fitting a closed wood burner and need to remove the existing
fireplace and need some advice.

There is a 1040x1040mm cast iron fireplace with 500mm wide fuel holder
suspended 150mm off the hearth, above an ash box. I want to remove all
this part. It all seems to be in a single piece of ironwork but there
are no visible fasteners, unless they are hidden by the handful of
Victorian tiles that decorate the sides. This ironwork is surrounded
by a 1740x1260mm marble mantle with pillars each side which I want to
leave as is.

I am wary of starting the job with a big hammer because I would like
to salvage the original fireplace and I don't want to take the risk
that some critical part is holding up a part of the chimney stack
There's a lot of house above me to fall down..

Any suggestions for me?


Dont remove the fireplace. Its not holding up anything but you would be
defeating your objective of getting a better heat output if you do
that.
Also someday in the future you may wish to revert to the fireplace and
it will be intact if that day comes.
Think about this post before you do anything.
http://groups.google.ie/group/uk.d-i...6?dmode=source

Dont remove the fireplace. Its not holding up anything but you would be
defeating your objective of getting a better heat output if you do
that.

Thanks, but can you expand on this please? I have been informed up to
now that fireplaces have useless efficiency. My reason for wanting a
woodburner is to rememdy the fireplace problem that so much of the
heat goes up the flue and creates excessive room drafts.

Also someday in the future you may wish to revert to the fireplace and
it will be intact if that day comes.

I will, I will keep the original Victorian fireplace insert in my
basement.

Think about this post before you do anything.
http://groups.google.ie/group/uk.d-i...6?dmode=source

That is a nice post but the writer seems to be an advocate of wood
burners, no?

Difficult to advise without a picture. Does it look as though the marble
mantle was fitted last? If so, it will be difficult to remove the cast iron
fireplace without damaging the marble.

Yes, I understand that without a picture. I was curious if there was a
'typical' way that these things were built.

Mine seems to be the iron fireplace sitting behind an overlapping
'picture frame' of rectangular section black painted hardwood. That
frame itself seems to go behind the marble surround. Hmm, tricky??

Tim wrote:

Thanks, but can you expand on this please? I have been informed up
to
now that fireplaces have useless efficiency. My reason for wanting a
woodburner is to rememdy the fireplace problem that so much of the
heat goes up the flue and creates excessive room drafts.

If you place the stove in the flue you will not achieve much extra
efficiency in output.
The whole point of the exercise is to have the stove planted out on the
hearth of the fireplace and that way all the heat is in the room and
you have a pipe out of it to let the fumes up the chimney. Think about
it.



Also someday in the future you may wish to revert to the fireplace and
it will be intact if that day comes.

I will, I will keep the original Victorian fireplace insert in my
basement.

Think about this post before you do anything.
http://groups.google.ie/group/uk.d-i...6?dmode=source

That is a nice post but the writer seems to be an advocate of wood
burners, no?
its my post on an earlier thread. Many people put their stoves into the
fireplace and that defeats the main purpose as they lose much of the
heat up the chimney.
Take a tip from the person who has lived with one in his living room
for twenty years.
Its warm on the coldest day of the year and its a big room with a high
ceiling.
Prior to that I couldnt live there in cold weather no matter what fire
I put down.

My installation would place the wood burner in the fireplace with at
least 50cm of free space above and at the sides. The flue from the
burner would come from the back and directly into the chimney flue,
there would be no other air path up the chimney as that would be
sealed. Any heating of the air around the stove would rise up, hit the
slightly sloping top of the inside of the fireplace and move forward
into the room, this would draw air into the base of the burner through
convection. I would make sure the sides of the fireplace, surrounding
the stove, are made of an insulating material so that the stove
doesn't pass significant heat into the chimney breast or surrounding
walls.

Does this seem ok?

Tim wrote:
My installation would place the wood burner in the fireplace with at
least 50cm of free space above and at the sides. The flue from the
burner would come from the back and directly into the chimney flue,
there would be no other air path up the chimney as that would be
sealed. Any heating of the air around the stove would rise up, hit the
slightly sloping top of the inside of the fireplace and move forward
into the room, this would draw air into the base of the burner through
convection. I would make sure the sides of the fireplace, surrounding
the stove, are made of an insulating material so that the stove
doesn't pass significant heat into the chimney breast or surrounding
walls.

Does this seem ok?

Actually a stove looks quite good sitting in front of the sealed off
fireplace which is intact.
You will have a short pipe coming out the back at the top presumably
and then a bend up into a metal plate which seals the chimney flue. Is
that the idea?
It may be tricky to seal that into the bricks which will be uneven and
any gap at all will draw a lot of heat.
Also cleaning will be more difficult with your way as soot can build up
on the flue stopper choking the flue more easily and when you remove it
the lot falls down.
I always think a stove looks odd plonked inside a flue but maybe thats
just me.
Outside you have the heat radiating in every direction within the room.
Your fireplace looks great as it has a sheet of brass or tin covering
it and cut to suit the contour of the fireplace.. You can easily pull
it out to clean it which is an annual necessity and you are not stuck
into the hearth to start it up or to heat yourself as you can put
chairs all around in a wider circle.
Its a personal preference that works for me and I could remove it or
replace it without any cost.