Fire grate recomendation

[Delta]

Hi,

We have recently un-boarded a fireplace in our bedroom, and 6 rubble sacks full of soot, brick, birds and mice, we are pondering what type of fire grate to get fitted? The house is c1800, 2 storey, 1 window/room each side of the front-door in the original section, a modest old farm house in rural Lincs, so nothing too posh. It looks like a hob-grate would be appropriate, judging by the way the flue forms a sort of box shape half way up, and it looks like there are half-broken bricks in the lower half, either side, which I guess may have stuck out into the hob plate void area type thingy wotsits bits. I'm also interested in what type of hearth and slips would have been fitted. You can see in the picture below, the remains of blackened lime plaster on the arch, the sides, and it is also on the inside of the box bit too. Looks like it would all have been plastered originally, but I assume the outer sides would have had slips, but slate or tile?

The woodwork looks fairly original so that will stay, although I'm not sure about that bit of moulding up each side and across the front.

Has anyone got anything similar I get details of, ideally a picture too? This is your chance to show-off that nice fireplace!



Hope someone can help. Thanks.

 

[Nemesis]

Yes it's been a hobgrate, and the surround looks original and authentic to me. Hard to say for certain without seeing it in situ and relating it to other woodwork etc. Simple and made up from standard Geo moulding. Odd that the arch is on show, but it may well be the case that there were no slips, just the plaster painted black.

Looks like the original hearth may be in place too?

 

[Lime]

I suspect this had a form of hob grate installed.

http://www.salvo.co.uk/images/userimgs/28530/39503_1.jpg

 

[Nemesis]

Nice - but I think that's a grate for a grander drawing room.

Bedrooms, especially in farmhouses, tended to be fairly simple grates.


[Open Image] [Hosted by PhotoGalaxy.com]





Our bedroom ones are constructed from stone, with only the grate and bars in metal.

The 'parlour' was the only one with any pretensions, and a metal insert.

http://www.britainsheritage.co.uk/antique-hob%20grates.htm


(Scarily, I've just spotted our parlour fire on this site - at almost two grand... that's without the surround....sheesh!)



[Open Image] [Hosted by PhotoGalaxy.com]


Here's a glimpse of something similar to your surround, although on a larger scale as it was a 'public' room, at Wordsworth House Cockermoth, which is well worth a visit (lots of fireplaces):



[Open Image] [Hosted by PhotoGalaxy.com]

 

[FamilyWiggs]

You could have ironed your shirt, Penners.... tsk, you just can't get decent staff these days.

 

[Delta]

A simple hob gate as suggested is my thinking too.

The remains of the hearth is just those 4 bricks you can see that the bottom. The rest of the hearth that would have protruded into the room is no more. There is some wood that has been laid down to roughly fill in teh gap from whatever slab was there. Under that wood infill is just earth. I’ve only dug down inch or two so far, but it is literally dry crumbly earth, well that and a mouse nest. This is an upstairs bedroom, so maybe earth is a suitable inflammable material to put between a slab or some sort and the joist and ceiling below.

The arch with the plaster is one of my big unknowns. Would it have had slips, slate or tiles, or would it have been left as the black plaster as you see. The brick faces just inside of the woodwork is about 2 inches, so it would warrant a slip, but equally it could be plaster. Judging by tell tale remains on the bricks and the wall behind the wood most if not all of the exposed brick work was previously plastered.

I’d be very interested in hearing about any similar fireplaces that have slips or just plaster, I’m not sure what to go with.

 

[Delta]

Update - Almost done... lime plaster was done yesterday. See top of the thread for what it was before. Still not sure what to black it with. Any ideas?



Some of the orginal plaster was painted, but that was the outer areas, the inner box above the grate area was just dirty it seems, but hard to tell as that plaster was the worst. It also had some board over it for a period of time, there were round wire nails around the edge area.

 

[Penners]

That looks great (ha-ha!), Delta. You must be very pleased with it.

To black the iron, I would use a grate polish. There are several brands available and I'm sure your local stove specialist shop would sell at least one of them. Here's an example:

http://www.stovesite.co.uk/brands/stovax/stovax-black-grate-polish.html

Try to get as much loose dirt, plaster, etc. as possible off the iron before you use the grate polish.

 

[FamilyWiggs]

Yep - looks great.

 

[Delta]

Thanks, I've got some grate polish, but I am wondering more about the plaster, what to do with that. The remains of the orginal plaster was painted black, or just dirty, but I cannot find any black limewash...

 

[FamilyWiggs]

It was probably not coloured originally, but the plaster quickly smoked and sooted up.

I'd be inclined to leave it for a while and see it you like it "nude". If you really want to darken it, then I would just paint on a few coats of very sooty water.