Short Floorboards Above Fireplace

[JohnB]

I've been removing plasterboard today, in the hope I may find a fireplace behind it, but no such luck. My house is a pair of semis, with three chimneys that are all the same size. I've found three fireplaces going into the middle one, and there's one wall that I haven't stripped yet, but I doubt if there's another one there. I've now found that the end wall of the bit I live in has just one fireplace, downstairs. It's been messed about a lot, as it's part stone, part assorted bricks, and it's not keyed into the wall! I've been told it had a range in it at some time, but now has a modern brick fireplace with a wood stove.

This is the downstairs fireplace, looking up to the ceiling:


This is the wall above it upstairs, with damp, flaky lime plaster, that was hidden behind plasterboard on 2x1 battens. No sign of a fireplace. The vertical lines are where I cut out the first bit of plasterboard with a plasterboard saw:


This is the floor upstairs, showing short floorboards above the fireplace:


Before uncovering the wall, I thought there may have been a hearth where the short boards are, but as there is no fireplace, does anyone know why there would be short floorboards here?

 

[Alex]

Hi john, I have the same short boards upstairs but mine are definetly put in where there was a hearth and fireplace.

Alex

 

[JohnB]

I'm assuming there was no fireplace because the wall is lime plastered. I suppose it's possible it was removed so long ago that lime plaster was still fashionable, but the whole wall must have been replastered if it was. The plaster is so crumbly that it will have to come off.

 

[JoceAndChris]

Yes it might have been taken off ( but why?) in 1900 and still have been lime plastered. Or later, Dad remembers lime & horsehair in the 30s in rural Gloucestershire.

Or, it could be that section rotted and got replaced - we've got short boards for that reason. A bit of a puzzle, certainly!

Like your lime plastering.

 

[Lime]

The stain near the ceiling suggests a blocked off flue that has had rain falling down it.
The short boards also look to have some age to them so the plaster would almost certainly be done in lime.
Lime plaster was still being used extensively during the 1950s.

 

[88v8]

I would guess that there was an intention to put in a fireplace, after all how else would the room have been heated if indeed it was heated at all, perhaps the builder assumed there'd be a fireplace and the fire lump was cast in, and then removed.
Anyway, you know which bits of floorboard you need to remove if you insert a live fireplace.

Ivor

 

[plasticpigeon]

how many flues are there, are there 2 chimney pots on top?? Looks like there was a hearth there to me. You might be able to tell if you take up the short boards.

 

[CliffordPope]

All our upstairs rooms have boards like that, those that haven't still got fireplaces.
One had the slate slab still in place, set in the floor, with short planks visible from downstairs about 2" lower than the rest of the exposed boards of the ceiling.
The fireplace must have been blocked in about 1950 when the room was converted into a bathroom. It was done in the traditional way, with lathe and horsehair plaster (west wales).

 

[JohnB]

This was 1967, when the houses were in the process of being vandalised (windows moved, cement render etc):


This was 2009, and the openings haven't been changed since then:


The chimney in question is the right hand one. There was a stove downstairs when I bought it, but apparently it had rarely been used, and needed repair. I got it working in January, after smoke testing and doing some minor repairs to the chimney.

It looks as though there were two rooms upstairs, in the right hand house, as there is marking on the floor that seems to indicate a thin partition, and a small fireplace in the party wall that has a slate hearth still in place. It's covered in junk at the moment, but may be cleared later today.

 

[JoceAndChris]

Beautiful house there John.

 

[JohnB]

Beautiful house there John.

That's not how it feels a lot of the time, but it's got potential! It's not quite as white as in the photo now, but I was waiting until it's totally naked before showing it!

 

[JohnB]

This is the remaining slate hearth, with what I've been told is the remains of the fireplace. It's about the same depth as the short boards, but not so wide.

Not the "interesting" location, next to the stairs installed by a couple of incompetent former residents!