fireback

[OliveTree]

can anyone tell me when vermiculite started to be used as backfill for a fireback please?

 

[stuart45]

I don't know the exact year, but I can remember using it late 70's early 80's, although a weak concrete mix was also an option. Brick rubble and mortar was also still being used.

 

[OliveTree]

so I guess I can expect any of those options when removing a fireback?

 

[stuart45]

You can, depending on how long the fireback has been in. Some of them just have a load of old rubble behind them. Using an insulating concrete mix was advised on external chimneys to begin with because of the heat loss.

 

[OliveTree]

Is the backfill easy to remove?

 

[stuart45]

Normally comes out without any trouble. It's often really loose fill with hardly any mortar mixed in.

 

[OliveTree]

Normally comes out without any trouble. It's often really loose fill with hardly any mortar mixed in.

Something I can do myself then?

 

[housewinnie]

Not to state the obvious but have the chimney swept first. Also expect to find all sorts of rubbish behind. But yes not a hard job.

 

[OliveTree]

Ok I think I will brave it. Just want to make the opening bigger and trying to find out what to expect.

 

[OliveTree]

Normally comes out without any trouble. It's often really loose fill with hardly any mortar mixed in.

Is the vermiculite the stuff that they say has been contaminated with asbestos?

 

[stuart45]

Is the vermiculite the stuff that they say has been contaminated with asbestos?

It can be, depending on which mine it came from.