Range cooker in fireplace opening

[Craig89]

I am nearing the completion of a new kitchen install. I have tiled the back of the fireplace for a Rangemaster cooker to go into. I wanted to leave as much of the brick work exposed as I could, and my original intention was to use glass on the internal reveals of the fireplace as a way of protecting the bricks from cooking splashes. Thinking about this now I'm not sure if there might be a better or alternate way of protecting the brickwork, whilst remaining aesthetically pleasing. Also the fronts of the piers would probably benefit from some protection too. So how have/would others approach this?

Many thanks, Craig

 

[Cubist]

Forgive my curiosity but which came first the tile back or the fireplace?

L shaped stainless steel or brushed aluminium panels may be the way to go.

 

[Craig89]

The fireplace came first, about 6 years ago, and the tiles 2 weeks ago.

I did think that, ideal practically but maybe a little commercial kitchen aesthetically

 

[a twig]

Clear glass splash backs would look great in my opinion, if you wanted to be really snazzy you could uplight behind the splash back with led strip to really show off the brick

 

[Kearn]

Need to find a way to seal the glass edges - congealed grease and dirt stick on the back edge of the glass won’t be great,,..

 

[a twig]

Need to find a way to seal the glass edges - congealed grease and dirt stick on the back edge of the glass won’t be great,,..

Just run the glass down below the height of the cook surface and then it doesn’t need sealing, looks from the photos like there is enough space.

 

[Kearn]

Just run the glass down below the height of the cook surface and then it doesn’t need sealing, looks from the photos like there is enough

It’s the top edge of the glass I’d be worried about…

 

[a twig]

I knew I was having deja vu -

https://www.periodproperty.co.uk/forum/threads/sealing-stone-work.15964/post-218286

The top edge is the easy one, there are various specialist sealants specifically for glass splashbacks, that said, if there’s an extractor hood in there then everything will get pulled up and away from the top anyway so likely not to be an issue.

 

[CliffordPope]

The fireplace came first, about 6 years ago, and the tiles 2 weeks ago.

It's a pity the rows of tiles don't line up in the upper part of the fireplace, I think because the top row around the walls is made of narrower edge pieces, not replicated inside the fireplace. That would annoy me - I'm a bit obsessive about alignments

 

[Craig89]

I knew I was having deja vu -

https://www.periodproperty.co.uk/forum/threads/sealing-stone-work.15964/post-218286

The top edge is the easy one, there are various specialist sealants specifically for glass splashbacks, that said, if there’s an extractor hood in there then everything will get pulled up and away from the top anyway so likely not to be an issue.

What a memory twig. I think you have confirmed for me that glass is the way to go, it looks great in that picture in the old thread. As has been mentioned a good seal all round will be needed to stop dirt and dust getting behind. Does anybody know if its toughened or laminated glass I need? Obviously it's likely to accidentally get knocked by pots and pans. Although toughened glass is strong on its face, doesn't a knock to an edge cause it to shatter? I would probably have to put some angle trims on the outside corners to help with the sealing anyway. We do have a fairly local glass retailer so I suppose I'm best talking to them.

The extraction is another head scratcher really. The chimney is fully functional, fitted with a stainless liner as originally this fireplace was going to have a solid fuel appliance in. So I have thought about trying to use the natural draught for extraction but I believe I will probably have a problem with condensation forming on the liner and dripping back down?

 

[a twig]

Yep the liner will be cold so unless you have an industrial sized fan that keeps the air velocity constant all the way up the stack/liner you will get grease condensing and eventually running back down, with its associated mess and smell.

Is it an external wall?

 

[Cubist]

I thought most/all cooker hoods drew the air through filters before expelling it outdoors? I've no idea how effective these are but perhaps secondary filters could also be used?

 

[a twig]

They do have them but they aren’t industrial grade carbon filters so don’t remove everything, the main challenge in this scenario is a fan with enough oomph to lift that column of air while maintaining the 0.7m/s face velocity to avoid smoke / steam coming out into the room

 

[LadyArowana]

Yep the liner will be cold so unless you have an industrial sized fan that keeps the air velocity constant all the way up the stack/liner you will get grease condensing and eventually running back down, with its associated mess and smell.

Is it an external wall?

Only if you cook things.

 

[Cubist]

Only if you cook things.

True. And stacks of empty pizza boxes make excellent insulation - kinda reminds me of my daughters uni days.

 

[Craig89]

Yep the liner will be cold so unless you have an industrial sized fan that keeps the air velocity constant all the way up the stack/liner you will get grease condensing and eventually running back down, with its associated mess and smell.

Is it an external wall?

Yes it is an external wall, and aside from it being 400mm thick, poking a 100mm hole through it is probably the easiest option

 

[Janela]

I'm following this with interest as my son has just bought an old ruin and has the intention to use one of the chimneys for a cooker hood. We hadn't thought of this problem

 

[Janela]

and it is an internal wall....

 

[a twig]

You could put a ducted recirculating hood in connected to an internal outlet vent above it to let the air back into the kitchen but then you’d need a 150mm wall mounted external vent somewhere else in the kitchen as it’s a requirement of building regs now to have forced external ventilation of 60 m3/h in a kitchen

 

[a twig]

Yes it is an external wall, and aside from it being 400mm thick, poking a 100mm hole through it is probably the easiest option

Just bear in mind you’ll likely find that it will end up being a 125mm or 150mm hole nowadays