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Design Dilemma Living Rooms

In the middle of a fireplace refurb - dilemma!

3 years ago

We uncovered a fireplace and pulled the cladding. Original plan was to widen the fireplace the isntall a burner. Unfortunately the way the fireplace has been built, this is not straightforward. We are having to change the design slightly and will end up with a 600mm gap and a height of 900mm instead of 900x900mm.

I have attached what we originally had in mind, the current state of the fireplace and a quick mock up of what it would look like if we left the brick slips. My main concern is the narrowness of the opening. Thoughts and advice very welcome.

The original goal.

Current state of play

Mock up

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Comments (10)

hedgehog99
3 years ago
Hi, so I think there are a couple of considerations here:

- Is the space big enough in terms of safety as well as aesthetics. The safety aspect is a question for a specialist so I'd ring one or two local woodburning stove companies, send them your pics and ask their advice. They'll also need to advise you on your chimney arrangement.

- Assuming you can go ahead, what to do in terms of surrounding decor. I think if you want a brick surround like your inspiration picture, you'd need to have decorative brick slips laid on top of the bricks you've unearthed - they look like they're the house bricks which were never intended to be on show and therefore they're unlikely ever to look pretty. But you could also have that area plastered or I'm sure there are other solutions.

But I think the safety/is it possible question is the first one you need to have answered, then move on to how make it look good. Hope that helps?
berrecka
3 years ago
our cavity is 700mm at its widest (tapers much narrower at the back), and there's plenty of space for the stove. we chose to have it protrude into the room, to get the heat into the room instead of up the chimney, but we could have had it recessed a good bit back. I think a gap of 600 should be fine. there are also really nice narrow stoves. my parents in law have one like this that I love, and it's very efficient
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User
3 years ago
You have a wide lintel, so it may be possible to open it up a bit more. Mine is only 630mm wide, with the stone chamber. My stove is gas though. Would be best to contact a specialist who can advice you on the best option.
cartrefni thanked User
cartrefni
Original Author
3 years ago
Lovely fireplace @berrecka how tall is the opening with you? The proportions look good which was the main thing I was worried about ours. I didn't want it to look too long and thin.
cartrefni
Original Author
3 years ago
@hedgehog99 Brick slips were the original plan. When we thought we could widen the inside was all going to be covered with the slips like first pic. We have decided against slips on the inside now as not to lose any more width however I'm considering brick slip cladding on the outside a little like @User has shown in hers (up to the beam).
cartrefni
Original Author
3 years ago
@User those dimensions look good on the eye. Very reassuring! I don't suppose you know the size of your gas fireplace? We can't widen it unfortunately. A wider lintel was put in but after doing it discovered the inside brickwork was tapered which would have not made the bricks safe to remove without a lot of extra work.
macbroom
3 years ago
I replaced the original bricks surrounding my fire with brickslips. You could get a stove fan to sit on top of your stove, which increases the warmth from the stove around your room if you wanted to recess your stove rather than have it protruding. Here’s a pic of mine.
User
3 years ago
This is my gas stove
https://www.yeomanstoves.co.uk/stove/cl3-gas-stove/
berrecka
3 years ago
@cartrefni its 900mm tall. We just ripped out the old fireplace and mantle and stuck in the stove, didnt think too much about proportions, but it works for us. Its been in for 5 years now
Anthony (Beano)
3 years ago
Hi

a little trick I used as I have a sandstone fireplace and it was made to order, the opening was made for a wood burner cassette stove, I sort of went off the idea and just wanted it open with a basket and logs, the opening looked a bit small (bigger behind the fireplace but risk damaging it by trying to cut the sandstone) so I got a metal surround made and sprayed it black.

I gives the illusion of a bigger opening but only if the recess is done black as well!

a pic of mine close up to see the surround and further away for the effect it gives :-)

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