Fitting a fire place

[lurker]

I'd like some advice please.

My son has bought a cast iron fireplace of a traditional design.
We have cut back the brickwork and made good.
We now need to fix the fireplace in to place.

My main concern is what to pack between the brickwork and the rear of the cast iron.
Will ordinary cement be OK.
I intend to fill the joint between the brick and the ironwork (on the inside of the grate) with fire cement.

There is a gap between the brickwork and the fire bricks at the back, was thinking of pouring dry sand into this

Any and all comments warmly received.

 

[NazNomad]

I would leave a 2'' gap between the back of the fire and the brickwork and fill that gap with vermiculite.

 

[lurker]

Thanks

Have just been googling and got a similar suggestion.
Never thought about vermiculite #-o

 

[Sheptonphil]

40 years ago we used dampened Vermiculite with dry cement powder mixed through, poured in and lightly tamped.

Phil

 

[Brandlin]

+1 for a loose fill material such as vermiculite

the cast iron is going to move a lot more than the brickwork with temperature cahnges

 

[Bm101]

Hiya Lurker,
Know you're not daft in any sense and most likely already know but ( :-" ) you want/need to be compliant with building regs in England and Wales (but not Scotland because apparently the Scots are famed worldwide for their DIY abilities while south of Hadrian's Brickwork we are all cackhanded, tiny brained numpties ), you will need a Hetas (or similar) fitters cert or Building control approval, either council or private.
Just in case you weren't aware this website is quite handy for all things diy burny : http://www.stovefittersmanual.co.uk/art ... ulations2/
This link is the trades association guide PDF: https://www.hetas.co.uk/wp-content/medi ... -12-12.pdf

Hope it all goes well.
Cheers
Chris

 

[julianf]

Im not sure you need all the paperwork for simply changing the fascia.

They are doing nothing to the stack etc. I assume that the are basically starting with an open fire, and ending with an open fire?

With regard to fixing - simply drilling the surround where it will be covered by trim, and bolting to the wall is as good as anything.

 

[Bm101]

Im not sure you need all the paperwork for simply changing the fascia.

They are doing nothing to the stack etc. I assume that the are basically starting with an open fire, and ending with an open fire?

With regard to fixing - simply drilling the surround where it will be covered by trim, and bolting to the wall is as good as anything.

Ahhh, sorry, quite right Julian, it seems painting all day has affected my brain. Loft extension is getting to me it seems. Not quite sure where I got wood burners from! :shock: #-o Early night for me it seems...

 

[Doug B]

As a young lad I used to fit fires we used vermiculite mixed with lime & water, I believe lime was used rather than cement as it was easier to remove at a later date than when mixed with cement.

 

[julianf]

re: back fill

The ones that ive taken out have just had hardcore chucked down the back. Im not saying this is the right way by any stretch, but its what ive seen.

Id fear that repeated expansion and contraction could cause movement, and lever the surround from the wall - maybe it does in some cases, but not the ones ive seen.

 

[julianf]

Photo opportunity - A similar job, but the opposite - taking out a "fascia" and opening up again -

 

[Fitzroy]

Back filled the two I did with vermiculite, cement and lime. Don’t remember the mix but was damn messy. Once all packed down behind the cast iron insert you could form a slope to ensure any coke did not build up behind the insert.

F.

 

[toolsntat]

Don't forget the coin :wink:
Cheers
Andy

 

[rafezetter]

Back filled the two I did with vermiculite, cement and lime. Don’t remember the mix but was damn messy. Once all packed down behind the cast iron insert you could form a slope to ensure any coke did not build up behind the insert.

F.

This is the version I've been told when I worked for a few months at a fireplace restoration company couple of years back, cleaning up the fascias and swapping out damaged tiles for new or new old stock (messy and time consuming - gotta be DAMN quick with that plaster of paris resetting the tiles) - apparently the contact between iron and brick was desired to help transmit the heat into the fabric of the building as well as store it for trasmission once the fire was out.

I'm assuming any expansion issues must be negligable ?

 

[RogerS]

Don't do what I did

vermiculite avalanche

 

[Bod]

I sense a story..

Bod

 

[lurker]

Yes ,come on Roger what happened?

 

[RogerS]

There was a log burner installed which we wanted rid of so we could have an open fire. Opening up the fireplace simply released all the vermiculite that had been poured down round the stainless steel flue. Nothing more exciting than that, chaps !

It was rather epic getting up to the chimney stack with the available tower plus ancillary props and supports plus a couple of anchor bolts drilled into the wall to stop it all swaying. Pity we didn't do it when the scaffolding was up !

Firebricks put into the opened up fireplace but an awful lot of digging out of the stone wall beforehand to get a decent shape to the flue. One word of warning to anyone thinking about using the fire cement from a company called Vitkas or as I like to call them S**tkas. The consistency is like thick cream. It oozes out of the joins and runs down the faces of your lovely coloured firebricks staining them a nice sludge colour. Washing them down before they've set simply pushes the sludge into the pores of the brick faces. We went for black firebricks but now grey thanks to S***tkas gloop. They swear blind it is OK. It isn't. It's so runny that you can only do one course a day, then leave for a week for it to harden enough to put the next course on.