Hi,

I want some advice on blocking up the inside of a fireplace.

I live in an old terraced house which has a chimney and fireplace.

I have recently had the chimney wall and fireplace all re-plastered.
I dont have a fire and I dont want one. The fireplace is currenlty
open and it has been plastered inside. I have had it swept.

I just want to keep it like that as a decorative feature. But I need
to block off the inside to prevent soot from falling down into the
fireplace floor. I know I have to keep a ventilation hole

The arch of the fireplace is visible, as is a arch steel lintel. how
can I block off the inside. I have had many thoughts but cant see how
any of them would work.

The plasterer said I could fix a piece of hardboard on the inside,
curved to match the arch, but I cant see a way of fixing this to the
inside. ALso this wont cover the steel lintel. This is currently
very rusty, I dont mind keeping this visible but and I cant see how I
could tidy this up. My preference would be to hide it.

The plasterer did not plaster the edge where the lintel is so
brickwork is visible there.

I tried messing about with some board but cant get it to look right.
Fixing it to the wall is difficult on on side as on the inside the
brickwork forms steps.

Has anyone done/seen anything like this before. I just some some
ideas or an approach really. I am assuming pasterboard is out of the
question as it cant be curved. Arch forming kits are a bit of
overkill for this, and I probably could not plaster the arch anyway.

Many Thanks

Bhupesh