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Builders Advice – Removing Fireplaces

by

Jim Smithy

How to remove a fireplace

Should decide to remove one a fireplace in the house, you will need to take away the surround and seal up the opening. This isn’t a particularly hard job to carry out, but it can involve a considerable amount of work and mess.Fire surrounds are ordinarily screwed or nailed to the wall through metal lugs or wire loops attached to the surround on each side. Close to the top the lugs will have been plastered over, so first chip away the plaster to expose them. When you have located the fixings, you should be able to saw the heads off the searing screws. It’s unlikely that you will be able to undo the screws but it may be possible to cut them off with a chisel and club hammer. Finding someone to help steady the surround, which might be quite heavy, the hearth can then be prised from the floor. A garden spade is ideal for this. Have some timber wedges handy to slip under it to allow you to get a handhold underneath. As you drag the hearth out of the way, you’ll locate the concrete constructional hearth, which really should be retained.Fire surrounds may well be secured lathe wall in a range of ways – by wall ties, lugs, dowels or screws and plugs. The fixings are typically at either side of the fire surround concealed beneath the wall panel.Timber surroundsA timber surround may well have a tiled or cast-iron insert. The timber itself is going to be a hollow box section fixed to battens nailed or screwed to the wall. The surround will almost certainly be fixed to the battens by screws. It might, nevertheless, be challenging to uncover these screws since the heads might be covered with filler. A metal cable and pipe detector may perhaps assist locate them. Carefully chip away the filler, enabling you to remove the screws. Maintain the surround in very good condition. The tiled or cast-iron insert will probably be held by lugs fitted at the top and sides and these should be visible when the outer timber surround is removed.Cast-Iron surroundsCast-iron fire surrounds are fairly valuable and also fragile, so take care when removing them. They’ll be held by metal lugs set in the wall plaster each side of the surround close to the top and just under the mantelshelf. Because the lugs can crack off, drill through the fixing screw heads to remove them. There may perhaps also be lugs along the top edge of the mantelshelf, so check before removing the surround.Think twiceTimber and cast-iron surrounds might be valuable, so think twice before removing them. They could also be in keeping with the style of the property and maybe be worth more than the fireplace you are thinking of installing.

This article was submitted by Jim, a

Brisbane builder

and home improvements enthusiast. Jim has a wealth of experience in building homes and doing home renovations in the Brisbane area in Queensland. Jim can do all sorts of building work from carports, patios and decks through to large scale home renovations.

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Builders Advice – Removing Fireplaces}