Getting rid of a fireplace

Nightglow · 22 Jan 2014 at 15:23

divuk83 said:
Thanks to you my unborn daughter might have to sleep in a drawer, but at least she will be nice and warm!

Dave

Well, I spent my first week in a drawer 50 years ago,it didn't do me any harm. :eek:

LeeUK · 23 Jan 2014 at 00:14

Don't forget to buy your smokeless fuels from a proper wholesaler like CPL. Don't pay over the odds for it from garages and DIY sheds.

My Parkray gives off loads of heat but it's a damn chore to keep clean.

haaammit · 23 Jan 2014 at 09:40

Why does your maglite appear to have a conical "easy insert" battery cap? :eek:

Shimmyhill · 23 Jan 2014 at 22:30

We live in a characterless 1960s bungalow and also ripped a gas fire out....

From;

To;

Much better and no babies suffered

divuk83 · 24 Jan 2014 at 01:17

Barry McFungus Pants said:
Why does your maglite appear to have a conical "easy insert" battery cap?

Its a glass breaking thingy. http://www.xcapecap.com/products.html

Shimmyhill: Looks really good, pretty much what I want to do. Just need to convince the wife now as she her preference is to brick it up.

Dave

Nightglow · 24 Jan 2014 at 09:42

Shimmyhill said:

Get above image or similar of multi fuel stove, go get it printed life size & attach to you grate opening, show/ convince wifey how nice it looks, compared to plain wall.

divuk83 · 14 Mar 2014 at 07:54

Quick update as the room is now completed. No fire to speak of (I lost!) but looks good to say it cost next to nothing due to using up bricks, sand, mortar and plaster I had sat in the garage doing nothing. Bag of self leveling compound, bit of skirting and a vent were the total cost to get rid. Room seems much bigger now without it, while I would have loved a burner I'm still happy with the end result. Thanks for all the help and advice, even if I didn't take it all, it was still nice to know my options!

Dave

FinglisHobbit · 14 Mar 2014 at 12:57

Glad you got a vent in there. We foolishly blocked ours up last year without any ventilation and had damp issues. However now there is a new fireplace back in so thats no longer a problem.

£15 · 14 Mar 2014 at 20:29

A very tidy job, Dave.

bazzabear · 15 Mar 2014 at 10:22

Is the vent necessary because of possible damp in the room, or damp in the cavity behind the wall?

FinglisHobbit · 15 Mar 2014 at 13:57

bazzabear said:
Is the vent necessary because of possible damp in the room, or damp in the cavity behind the wall?

http://peterfall.com/articles/dampness/don’t-just-block-off-the-chimney-breast/

bazzabear · 15 Mar 2014 at 16:38

Thanks for that - very interesting. Funny because your instinct might be to not want to vent your lovely warm internal air into a disused chimney!

rossk26 · 5 Sep 2014 at 13:39

I'm currently looking to do something exactly the same as this.

1) Where did you get the vent from?
2) How did you seal off the gas supply?
3) Did you block the chimney off at the top with a cap?

divuk83 · 5 Sep 2014 at 14:19

rossk26 said:
I'm currently looking to do something exactly the same as this.

1) Where did you get the vent from? Hit and miss vent was a couple of quid from Wickes
2) How did you seal off the gas supply? I had a friend who is a gas safe registered plumber do it for me.
3) Did you block the chimney off at the top with a cap? The chimney has a metal cowl on the top already and I stuffed a plastic bag with some loft insulation up the flu to reduce wind noise and draft.

rossk26 · 8 Sep 2014 at 07:44

Right so I took the fireplace out this weekend. And I've discovered the chimney is an add on to the house, no other houses in the whole estate have one!

Do I still need to vent it?