Fireplaces

[MattW]

Thank you everyone for the advice some months ago on stripping gloss paint off marble fireplaces...

Before:
View attachment 1

After:


Sorry its slightly out of focus. In the end I chickened out and got someone else to do it for me. The guys who did it used a mixture of nitromors, gentle scraping to lift the paint and then a poultice to lift the residual paint, at which point it changed from a nicotine yellow to this grey pink colour.

 

[Flyfisher]

Wow! Great result.
It makes me wonder why anyone would want to paint it in the first place (probably that old chestnut about personal taste, I suppose).

 

[DaveBrigg]

Great result! From something you might find in a skip, to the stunning feature it was intended to be.

 

[MdB]

:evil: <jealous mode on> :evil: :wink:

 

[Jon Maine]

great result

 

[FamilyWiggs]

Excellent Matt.

 

[MattW]

Thanks - am really pleased with the results. Though it's difficult to see, but the insert is victorian rather than georgian but as it seems to have been in place for a long time we've left it as it was. Interestingly the matching fireplace in the next door room (same design, size, and insert) was actually sandstone not marble - obviously as the back room on the 2nd floor it didn't merit anything more.

They are just putting in the reclaimed ones that I bought for the first floor, where unfortunately the original ones were ripped out in the 1930s we are guessing from what was there. Suddenly becoming very exciting as the house starts moving from a building site to something half recognisable

View attachment 1

One of the replacements half in...



While they are beautiful, I do sometimes wonder whether without the salvage / reclamation business meeting demand from someone like me whether this would have otherwise have stayed in its original house (albeit covered in gloss paint as it was). :|

 

[FamilyWiggs]

Ah, Matt, you've hit on one of life's little conundrums there and a topic oft-exercised on here.

I take the pragmatic view - this is not an ideal world and demolition of properties and the resultant salvage exists, therefore I would rather see it recycled than lost altogether. I know there is an argument that customers also fuel less responsible salvage activities, but I don't think it helps to be too purist here. Clearly one should avoid these outfits where possible - but how does one tell?

 

[JoceAndChris]

Such beautiful fireplaces, well done you! The colour of that stripped one is so lovely, it does make you wonder who in their right mind would cover it up. It must be great to see the Georgian coming back into your house.

As for reclaimed fireplaces - what else can you do? They might have been ripped out in the 30s - at least they are now in an appropriate setting.

 

[Flyfisher]

I take the pragmatic view - this is not an ideal world and demolition of properties and the resultant salvage exists,

Agreed. We have to deal with the world as it is, not how we'd like it to be.

 

[skier-hughes]

Superb work, love it.

 

[judrop]

:mrgreen: Very jealous ! WONDERFUL fireplaces. As long as the reclaimed ones havent been stolen to order, I think they are better being used in your lovely home than languishing in a reclaimation yard Grand job !

 

[MattW]

It must be great to see the Georgian coming back into your house.

Yeah it is - when the cornice was restored that was an amazing change, as was removing all the boarding off the doors. There has been a bit a pause while we focused on wiring & plumbing, so getting the fireplaces sorted was great (though there are two more to do which I'll post in due course - we have just found under the paint beautiful grey black veined marble). The really big change I think will be when we get the joiner in to make and fit the internal shutters that were ripped out.

 

[JoceAndChris]

That's brilliant, how rewarding to watch the house transform. I'd love to see pics of the shutters too- what style will you go for? Shutters make a house so much warmer-enjoy!

 

[MattW]

These are my neighbour's shutters that we will be copying (though without the low radiator covers that they built in)...

 

[JoceAndChris]

Ah, beautiful. They're so elegant. Thanks for posting that, it's clarified a mystery I've had here about the shutters.

 

[judrop]

Wonderful shutters, glad your not having the vent !

 

[MattW]

Thought you might be interested to see the next one that has just emerged out of the multiple coats of gloss paint and being boarded up for c.30 years...



They have still got to respray the insert black and finish off polishing out the scratches, but am really pleased with this one, especially the unusally feet on the grate

 

[Penners]

Matt - those fireplaces are really beautiful.

To my surprise, I actually quite like the brown-veined, tiled, 1930's job, too, in its own right. But I don't blame you for regarding it as unsuitable for a Georgian house.

 

[philpjuk100]

Hi we have nine chimneys but can only find eight fireplaces! some we like,some we can make ok but one in our sitting room we do not like and am not sure what to do with,the room is missing "soul",it has been dry lined and has a log burner in a "hole" with a brick arch above it.The plan is to fit a new logburner at floor level but am not sure what to do about a surround.Some old brick and an old beam seems a bit fake and a marble surround is a bit grand(its only a cottage)we have looked around the reclaim yards and on ebay but am unable to picture them on the wall.