Re-opening Fireplace

[Anonymous]

Hi,

I want to open up a fireplace which has been bricked up at some point in the past.

There is a brick arch which I would imagine was the original support for the fireplace opening, but it does not appear to be in the best condition. In particular, the edges (left and right) don't appear to be well supported to my untrained eye, as if the surrounding bricks have been hacked off a little. See pictures below:

http://homepages.nildram.co.uk/~whyard/chimney_arch.jpg
http://homepages.nildram.co.uk/~whyard/chimney_arch_left.jpg
http://homepages.nildram.co.uk/~whyard/chimney_arch_right.jpg

Further down, there is a relatively thin (about 2cm) metal bar running horizontally at about the height you would expect the fireplace opening to stop. See picture below (the bar is at the top):

http://homepages.nildram.co.uk/~whyard/chimney_metal.jpg

Which, if any, of these is providing the support for the stack? Does the brick arch look in good enough condition? I'd like to know where I can start removing bricks

Thanks for any help.

(Not sure why the colours are screwed on the photos!)

 

[Anonymous]

I haven't yet looked at the pics (no Broadband and loading stuff is very slow this morning!).

The brick arch is actually holding up the chimney breast above. This takes the place of a wood or stone lintel which other types of fireopenings have. This is supported on the brick pillars at each side of the fire opening, although not being an engineer I'm unsure how critical that side support is and if what you have left is sufficiently strong now.

If the mortar in the arch is crumbling a little, very good idea to rake back and re-do.

The metal bar was to support (usually rough) brick infill, which is not structural and can be removed if desired without any problems. However, of course if you are putting a fireplace back, it's a good idea to carefully infill again with some new mortar - it's usually crumbly and will need re-doing.

 

[Anonymous]

The brick arch looks OK.
Do you want to open the fireplace up and leave it open.? Are you going to re-plaster?

 

[Anonymous]

At the moment I am not 100% sure. I know I don't want an actual fire in there, I just want an opening with maybe a pretend open fire, but I am happy to have the chimney closed up. I might even do something more contemporary and find another use for the space.

Whether I plaster depends on what sort of shape the brickwork is in when I knock through. If it looks shoddy then I'll replaster, otherwise I will leave it exposed.

Why do you ask?

 

[Anonymous]

So is it entirely safe to remove bricks below the archway?

 

[Anonymous]

As long as they aren't the side supports on which the archway rests yes. This should be the parts above the metal (to the arch) and below the metal to the old hearth.

Be prepared for a great deal of dirt though!

 

[Anonymous]

My main concern is that the archway isn't very arched and obviously if it isn't arched enough then its useless as a support. From the photo, does it look arched enough?

Thanks again.

 

[Anonymous]

I'm not an engineer so my opinion is not much use here! However, it's obviously held the chimney breast up for a long time - it must have been an open hearth once, before being bricked up...

 

[Anonymous]

If you are happy give out your email address I can send you a couple of hi-res photos of a Victorian fireplace that I have just opened up and restored. It looks very similar to yours and may put your mind at rest.

Philip

 

[Anonymous]

Post the pics here... please! Sounds interesting...

 

[Anonymous]

Is there is a size limit on pictures posted to the forum? I wanted to send the high res ones to show the detail on the sides of the brick arch.

Philip

 

[Anonymous]

Yes sadly - however, you can post I think (i've never managed to do this!!!) if you have an external host - pic sharing stuff.

Otherwise, if posting an e-mail address do it so it can't be picked up by external 'robots' - ie

fred at xxxxx dot uk

People will have the wit hopefully to suss that out!

Or - open a freebie like hotmail for this sort of post.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks Phil, my address is whyard [at] nildram [dot] co [dot] uk

Replace the things in brackets and you've got it

Cheers,
Matt

 

[Anonymous]

In answer to your question re the arch, the brick work below it is almost without question infill built up to the arch at a later date. The arch itself isn't providing structural support to anything other than a triangle of bricks above it.
I asked what you intended to do with the opening afterwards merely to help make some suggestions as to how you might finish it off.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks - all suggestions are welcome!
If it is only supplying support to a triange of bricks above it, what is supporting the rest of the chimney?

Thanks again.

 

[Anonymous]

I'm interested too - it's about engineering forces, isn't it? Thrusts downwards and outwards etc? I know we've had this one before and an explanation of how it all actually works would be useful!

 

[Anonymous]

It's just how walls work. Because bricks are interlinked, a great vertical column of bricks won't drop down, just the ones that aren't immediately supported underneath. The further up, the more the bricks are interlinked with others that are supported.

 

[Anonymous]

So what you're saying is that the arch isn't, and isn't required to, take on a huge amount of weight. The majority of the support is provided by the cheeks on either side and the back wall. The arch just supports a section of bricks directly above it?

 

[Anonymous]

That is correct, assuming that nothing is sitting on the arch that is running front to back of the opening, but that's unlikely.
Knock the bricks out below the arch and have a look - but as someone else said be ready for a lot of dust and soot. I'd take a couple of bricks out at the bottom first and clean as you go.

 

[Anonymous]

For small openings the brick work acts like a series of corbels only bricks or bricks with a part in the triangle need to be supported, this is over simplifying it. If any part of the triangle is in a void such as a window opening in the floor above or there are additional loads such as joists for the upper floor in or close to the triangle it will need to be supported with a beam of some kind.