Restore original fireplace

[Giddy]

We have a Victorian cottage built around 1850 which has a rather ugly 1980's stone and concrete addition to the front which someone installed a gas, coal effect fire into. We have arranged to have the gas capped and intend to remove the front addition and open up the original fireplace, inserting a wood burning stove. I am slightly concerned that when we start smashing the concrete pointing and remove the infill stone that the chimney breast will not be strong enough to support out tall (three storey) chimney. Does anyone have any experience of this kind of work? Any advice would be appreciated as my husband is very excited at the prospect of smashing it to bits! I would add a picture but I don't seem to be able to.

 

[Nemesis]

It has supported it for many decades - if part of the 1850 bit - unless you also smash the lintel or it has been removed then I can't see that removal of the non-load bearing infill is going to make any difference?

Best to uncover the lintel before smashing anything though.

PS pictures need to be first hosted on an external website.

 

[Lime]

Unless the original fireplace structure has been removed previously then when the modern fireplace is removed it should still be there holding up the chimney.
I would go easy when removing the cement and stone fireplace though.

The underlying brickwork may have been exposed to a lot of heat and the mortar could be quite crumbly as a result.
Minimum force only is my advice.

 

[BMcD]

When I removed the 50s concrete and tile affair from our Edwardian town house, it was just bolted on in place of the original and was relatively straight forward. However when I removed the 70s reconstituted stone split level thing from the dining room (originally the kitchen when the house was built and therefore housed a range) it was a far bigger job and involved the use of strong boys http://www.knighton-tools.co.uk/acatalog/Masonry_Supports.html
to support the chimney stack whilst I rebuilt the cheeks and installed a new lintel. As lime says, take it easy and Nemises suggests exposing the lintel, this could be done by hacking off plaster just above the existing fireplace which might reveal the original brick arch and give you an idea of the original opening

 

[middi]

It is higly unlikely that if you remove the added false facade that the existing chimney will fall down.

Just stop at the original building line, and make sure the original side pillars are in situ.

After all, the chimney should have fallen on the person which did all the stone embellishment if it was unstable.

I would not advise the use of a sledge hammer, hammer and chisel is more appropriate.

 

[Lime]

May I offer a bit more advice when knocking out the modern fireplace?
I have seen several builders using far too much force on lime mortared walls.
Lime mortared walls are strong where they are supposed to be strong, vertically downwards. However they are quite weak if hit horizontally.
So wherever possible use your chisel at a downward angle so that the blows are taken down the wall and not on it's side.
That way you minimise the possibility of loosening the bricks.

 

[Giddy]

Thank you for your comments - much appreciated. There is no plaster and we can see the original arch so I guess we just take it steady and work our way back to the original opening.