How do I remove this marble fireplace?

R.O.S.S.I

R.O.S.S.I

R.O.S.S.I

Soldato
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Just moved into a house and I want rid of the two marble fireplaces in the lounge and dining room. The only problem is I can't for the life of me figure out how to get the bar steward off the wall!

I've managed to get the marble bits off that are stuck around the fire and on the inside but the metal edges seems to be well sunk into the chimney breast and ive no idea how to get the hearth off too.

Ive turned the gas off at the main in case I got a bit giddy with the crowbar but I can't figure out how its actually fixed in.

Ive undone any screws I could see on the actual gas fire unit itself but it still wont come out.

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Anyone any ideas to help a fellow DIY'er?
 
First remove the fire , the outer brass part should lift off and there should be 4 screws. Once removed u can see behind the surround. That will be on the wall with adhesive and need levering off wall gently if u don't want to damage it. Or just attack it with a hammer.
 
dnic77 said:
First remove the fire , the outer brass part should lift off and there should be 4 screws. Once removed u can see behind the surround. That will be on the wall with adhesive and need levering off wall gently if u don't want to damage it. Or just attack it with a hammer.
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I've tried to do that already. The brass frame around the actual fire is just held on by magnets. Once you've removed that there are about 6 screws, all of which have been removed and there is a little play in it but it feels like its being held in by something!

I may just have to resort to being a bit more enthusiastic with the crowbar.
I wanted to make sure I didn't completely mess up the gas pipe and electric cable that feed it. Can these be disconnected prior to removing it from the wall or do i need to get it free from the wall to disconnect it properly?
 
Can't help with removing it but we removed a fireplace recently and the chimney behind was backed up almost 2 feet high with old soot and other debris including a few dead birds :S
 
If you manage to get it away half decent you can usually find someone to give you a bit of cash for the horrid things. Surprisingly.
 
Well some persuasion and brute force finally saw it out!

Finally out!
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Opened up!
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There is an identical one on the other chimney breast which i'm going to try and get out with a little less force now that I think I know what was holding it in place, hopefully flog it for a few quid.
 
Rroff said:
Can't help with removing it but we removed a fireplace recently and the chimney behind was backed up almost 2 feet high with old soot and other debris including a few dead birds :S
Click to expand...

Whoever had built this fireplace in (i.e. made the opening smaller) hadn't even cemented the back bricks in so once id got the fireplace out and off the wall after chipping away the first lot of bricks i could just pull the rest out with my hand!

No dead birds but a shed load of sooty dust everywhere, good job I had a dust mask on!
 
One quick question and not sure how to explain it properly but do you think that I need to remove everything down to ground level or could I sit the log burner on a hearth in the position it is in (at skirting board level - the same level as the old fireplace)?

I've poked around and the front edge appears to be made of bricks. Should I take the skirting board off to see what its like underneath?

I'm not sure if the original opening went down to floor level or not but I quite like that the actual fireplace opening is raised off the ground a bit.
 
You need to take it down to floor level really and take the skirting off, and have a harth that comes out further. (Due to naked flames and embers) unless you really hate your carpet/flooring/house.
 
Could I not have a hearth that comes out further than the fireplace at the level it is at now or does it have to go down to floor level for regulation purpose? Its further away from the floor if it is up higher. Or would it just look stupid??
 
Mate of mine said he had ordered a log burner and was puzzled when he described what he was doing - Then twigged he was having a built in one -Take out gas fire and just push in wood burner-- Had a look online and they are quite smart but not sure how much heat you would lose.

Now you have got that far - tidy up -sit back and think about it for a while over a pint. - Mine is about same sized opening as yours and now wished I had knocked out another 6" each side - mine is standard fireplace opening.

I also designed a steel box to fit hole and had made - best thing I have ever done with stove - all others I used Masterboard or other heatproof material to line opening but they all cracked eventually.

Good luck with it. You will be glad you did it.

Dave
 
I'm not sure how i'd feel about knocking the opening out even more. Feels like a good size to me at the moment.

What do you think about taking it down to ground level, is that necessary or can I just install a hearth at the level its at and sit the burner on that?
 
I am a DIYer not a builder so can't really advise - But if it was mine I would take it down to floor - the more room round the stove the better.

Put in a nice hearth and it will look good.

Mine looks narrower than yours and is 2ft wide


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What you see there is concrete base for the travertine style hearth. - The square tube is air supply which was already under there for previous Parkray fire/back boiler.

Dave
 
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