kitchen chimney breast

[plasticpigeon]

Hello

Following on from tycarregydwr's post and not wanting to hijack it, like Sonya I want to put an extractor in an old kitchen chimney breast and intend to put a cooker below. My question is after I have cleaned the flue which is not blocked at all just a bit dirty, would it be ok to just construct some wooden framework inside the chimney and put an extractor in? I intend to put in one that vents to outside. I just wondered if any stray bits falling on the top of the extractor inside the chimney would damage it, and also I need to make sure that I don't get any bits falling past it and into my dinner.

Also does anyone have an idea what would have been around such an arch as in my house please?? Obviously there was a range in there as I see evidence of 3 flues from the soot on the back wall, and also the opening splits into 3 flues just above the arch. There must also have been a copper on the left. I don't intend to replace any of those, but would like to put in a shelf on the step aqbove the arch and some kind of frieze below (just a horizontal piece of wood) with a few brackets on or similar. However I'm not sure what would have been traditional, and I also don't really know how the arch would have been finished. Would it have been plastered or bare brick???

He is a pic of the kitchen chimney breast in question, which looks totally unspectacular after Sonya's pictures but it's still my little castle!!!

 

[Sonyaclegg]

Which I'm sure will be fantastic when its finished. I worry about the bits dropping out too. We need to install vents into the soffit board and I think they need to be 750mm higher than the hob to comply with current building regs. I thought of two soffits. One with vents in to stop the bits dropping and another one underneath it to install the extractor into and lights etc

Someone on here will have done it before, I'm sure

 

[Feltwell]

It would have been plastered PP, almost certainly. Exposed rough brickwork is a modern fashion, the Victorians covered it up with smooth plaster for the most part.

We have a modern range cooker in there, put in by a previous owner. They blocked the flue with plasterboard but did at least put a vent in which has mesh inside - this needs taking down and cleaning out every 3-4 months, bits of old soot do drop down the chimney, although it's lessened since we did the roof and capped the chimney pot with a cowl.

Ideally there would be a fan extracting to the outside, but it's not possible. We don't find there's any problem with cooking fumes though - how much goes through the vent and up the old flue is anyone's guess, but it doesn't feel greasy at all inside the flue.

 

[JoceAndChris]

What's the date of the building again? I think just simple limewashed plaster, I might be wrong, but can't envisage a surround there.

http://twonerdyhistorygirls.blogspot.co.uk/2010/10/latest-in-kitchen-ranges-for-regency.html?m=1

 

[Andrew Bodenham]

plasticpigeon,

I'd be concerned about condensation, pumping lots of warm steamy air up into your cold (relatively) masonry flue. I'd suggest ducting all the way up the flue with something like 100mm plastic soil pipe, with a suitable rain-proof terminal on top. This would also prevent soot & debris from dropping into the extractor. You would need to find some method of supporting the vertical load of the duct, possibly even arranging a condensate trap and drain.

 

[Gareth Hughes]

Also does anyone have an idea what would have been around such an arch as in my house please?? Obviously there was a range in there as I see evidence of 3 flues from the soot on the back wall, and also the opening splits into 3 flues just above the arch. There must also have been a copper on the left. I don't intend to replace any of those, but would like to put in a shelf on the step aqbove the arch and some kind of frieze below (just a horizontal piece of wood) with a few brackets on or similar. However I'm not sure what would have been traditional, and I also don't really know how the arch would have been finished. Would it have been plastered or bare brick???

It would have been at least painted, and in all likelihood plastered. A shelf on brackets, with a "frieze" between the brackets, would be perfectly appropriate, as would a very simple surround such as:

 

[plasticpigeon]

Thanks for the replies. I didn't think the bricks would be left bare. They are really rough. I have a few style books, and even a few books from around the time my house was built but it seem working class homes weren't very well documented back then. I have also scoured the internet and although it comes from a grand house, the space for the range looks similar to this one although maybe a bit smaller. The bricks are so rough on mine that the arch isn't even a nice curve, but a bit wonky. There is also a metal strap underneath. It makes me think that maybe the arch was covered too. The range in the picture looks as if it has metal sides and maybe even a metal internal top, as if it is a complete unit with it's own metal niche and then integral flues at the back. I was wondering if the beading around the range was actually cast iron and part of the whole assembly. Does anyone know?

As for the extractor, I thought I could perhaps have the outlet out of the back wall of the chimney just above the extractor hood, rather than venting it all the way to the top by which time I can imagine most of the steam would have condensed. I know it means knocking bricks out but it might be a better compromise.

 

[tycarregydwr]

In our previous house (mid-terrace late Victorian, small very working-class house) we reopened the blocked up kitchen fireplace to put a range in it. The genius previous owner had removed the stack in the room above (but left it in the attic and on the roof, doh!) so there was no option to vent it up. We put in a powerful but small extractor and had it ducted up and out under the floorboards of the first floor. Obviously this involved making a small hole in the outside wall but we felt this was a worthwhile compromise in the interests of reducing moisture indoors. The difference once the fan was installed was truly remarkable - the windows didn't steam up anymore even with lengthy brewing sessions involving many, many long boils of large pans of liquid.
It is important to research fans though - many of the ones intended for domestic kitchens really are not all that powerful.

 

[parkview094]

What did you do about Venting the chimney in the end? (If anything?)

We're going through the same process at the moment of opening up the chimney in our new-to-be kitchen to install a hob and extractor in the space. The extractor will be installed beneath the new lintels and boxed in flush with the face of the rest of the chimney breast.

Where the strong-boy goes through the chimney at the moment, I'm wondering if it would be worth installing an air brick? The other flues that share the same stack are all open, so there is some airflow, although not in that flue.

The metal ducting pictured is from the old boiler that used to be installed there. Building control won't let us use that for the hob extractor, so I was just going to leave it in situ. I'm in two minds as to whether to bung something up the end of it?