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If you remove the brick infill you may find a lot bigger opening behind.
We've recent had a 60's fireplace removed and the original inglenook behind restored.
Our CO was willing to let us do the work without LBC as he knew the builder, although we did apply for it to avoid paying the VAT.
Below is the before and after shots.
We've recent had a 60's fireplace removed and the original inglenook behind restored.
Our CO was willing to let us do the work without LBC as he knew the builder, although we did apply for it to avoid paying the VAT.
Below is the before and after shots.
That 'before' photo shown above is how the fireplace looked before we removed the 60's bricks (which is why some of the bricks still have cement on them). I really like how your fireplace looks now and I'd like to achieve something similar... now I'm wondering how possible this would be.
Mivec... how big a project was it for you to remove the black paint from your beams? This is something I really want to do... I think mine have a zillions of layers of black paint.
Mivec... how big a project was it for you to remove the black paint from your beams? This is something I really want to do... I think mine have a zillions of layers of black paint.
skier-hughes
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I used kligstrip from strippers of sudbury to remove my black paint, which on average I'd say took about 1 days work to do each beam.
JoceAndChris
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You're amazing Skier-Hughes! There's no way I could do it that fast, coz there's no way I could do more than 4 hours per day, it's very very hard on the neck and back and you get ill from the fumes.
I'm allowing 10 years for the whole house-so far have done one and a half rooms in 8 months.
I use a hot air gun for the first very thick layers then several cycles of Nitromors to finish up. I find you need a very light touch so as not to gouge the soft wood.
I'm allowing 10 years for the whole house-so far have done one and a half rooms in 8 months.
I use a hot air gun for the first very thick layers then several cycles of Nitromors to finish up. I find you need a very light touch so as not to gouge the soft wood.
skier-hughes
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I apply klingstrip on day one to a beam.
Day two is remove klingstrip by gently scraping.
Put klingstrip on beam 2.
Wash beam 1 using power washer and vacuum with a speacial head to connect the two.
Wash beam 1 another couple of times.
Day three is remove klingstrip.
Put klingstrip on.
wash beam 2
wash beam 1
repeat forever
I days work spread over many days.
When I get fed up, I do something else for a bit, then come back to stripping paint.
Best bit is it loks really nice once done.
Day two is remove klingstrip by gently scraping.
Put klingstrip on beam 2.
Wash beam 1 using power washer and vacuum with a speacial head to connect the two.
Wash beam 1 another couple of times.
Day three is remove klingstrip.
Put klingstrip on.
wash beam 2
wash beam 1
repeat forever
I days work spread over many days.
When I get fed up, I do something else for a bit, then come back to stripping paint.
Best bit is it loks really nice once done.
JoceAndChris
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Right, I'll try Klingstrip when this lot runs out.
yes, it's so worth it. I should make clear I'm not just referring to beams but doors, windows, etc etc.
yes, it's so worth it. I should make clear I'm not just referring to beams but doors, windows, etc etc.
skier-hughes
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This is the washer
http://www.stripperspaintremovers.com/products.htm#i
http://www.stripperspaintremovers.com/products.htm#i
I can vouch for the fact that Graham's removal schedule is the logical way to go, though the amount you can apply/clean off will be limited to your own personal stamina (not all of us are blessed with his superhuman powers).
I stripped the intricate paint-clogged mouldings round a couple of ceilings using a poultice system and found that I could cope with about 24" a day. Putting the stuff on was easy - it was the removal and subsequent work with toothbrush, cotton buds and wooden potters' tools, followed by repeated washing and rinsing that took the time.
Very satisfying, though. I was almost sorry when I came to the end of it.
If I were to tackle a beam, I think I'd be tempted to hire a carpet-cleaning machine**. I've used one on a wooden floor and it did an excellent job: the wood doesn't get saturated because the dirty water is sucked up almost as soon as it's sprayed it on, and I guess that used on a beam there would be much less mucky water dribbled on to the floor.
** If only because it would be cheaper than investing in the one in Graham's link
I stripped the intricate paint-clogged mouldings round a couple of ceilings using a poultice system and found that I could cope with about 24" a day. Putting the stuff on was easy - it was the removal and subsequent work with toothbrush, cotton buds and wooden potters' tools, followed by repeated washing and rinsing that took the time.
Very satisfying, though. I was almost sorry when I came to the end of it.
If I were to tackle a beam, I think I'd be tempted to hire a carpet-cleaning machine**. I've used one on a wooden floor and it did an excellent job: the wood doesn't get saturated because the dirty water is sucked up almost as soon as it's sprayed it on, and I guess that used on a beam there would be much less mucky water dribbled on to the floor.
** If only because it would be cheaper than investing in the one in Graham's link
skier-hughes
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Moo said:
True about how much cleaner it is, it is so much easier with the washer/vacuum and nozzle, but hiring a cleaner over however many months, compared to buying a set....... depends on how long you're going to take.
I was lucky, Penner's daughter was selling hers, so I got it 2nd hand, but after using it and trying to do it manually, I'd buy it all new.
Maybe someone else on here has got one they've finished with?
I'm only two rooms down and lots to go I'm afraid :wink:
kaz said:
This is what was first found once the 60's fireplace and cement render were removed....
Once the 60's infill was removed a Victorian one was found. I was told this was built to hold a victorian range.
It's hard to see from the photo but there are some metal bolts and brackets attached to the brickwork that would have supported the range.
Some of the bolts embedded into the original tudor brick work have been left.
We used a professional inglenook restoration company to do the work (http://www.inglenookrestorations.co.uk). It was quite obvious to me during the restoration that it needed a professional eye to work out what was original to what period. It was a long careful process removing layers until the original structure was exposed.
As for the beams we were fairly lucky compared to you. Ours weren't covered in paint but 1 or 2 coats of a modern(ish) coloured varnish, probably applied in the 60's when the fireplace was covered up. Prior to that the only treatment they appear to have had is a coat of lime wash (as seen above the fireplace in the second photo).
We bought a 'Kling-Strip' and 'Stripper NB-510' trial pack from http://www.stripperspaintremovers.com. The Kling-Strip didn't do anything but the NB-510 worked a treat.
It was still a long hard job that was really messy but well worth it for the end result. We found they needed 2 coats and lots of washing down.
As others have said, Kling-Strip is the way to go in your case, good luck if you do have a go, it looks like you have a fair bit to do.
Cloudscape
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I don't really mind the current look of the fireplace. What lets it down for me partly are the revealed cheeks of what looks like earlier brickwork at either side (the sides of the surround could have been made to hide this). The fact that the bricks over the opening seem to be doing a gravity-defying trick - no lintel or brick arch - looks worse to my eye. My house has some very odd make-do-and-mend touches. I'm very careful what I tinker with - anything can be 'improved' if you have the will and the bank account (I have the former, but not the latter). In the end, the house I fell in love with could be majorly 'improved'... but this could also mean that something will be lost (all the odd interesting inept bits).
To me... painted brick would look pretty awful in context. Tiling is just dressing the face of the fire with a veneer that will probably become as irritating as the bricks (which don't particularly irritate me). Featureless tiles that appear to have some age might not draw the eye at all and might work?).
Another thing is the black. I'm not anti-black. Your beams look delicate - at least they appear to be interestingly nibbled. The black is accentuating the spindly-ness, but also hides a multitude of sins. :wink: Stripping could reveal friable absorbent wood that could easily be damaged in the stripping process. For anyone truly anti-black, I'd say paint was the answer - paint the ceiling and the beams the same colour. By making less of them... you can actually make more of them. Incidentally, someone who visited my house for the first time said (on seeing the scarily black beams in the dining room), "You need to get rid of this black and lighten the room up. It looks like an old pub." To which I replied, "It is an old pub."
I have a wood-burner that sits just in front of an old (early) Victorian cast-iron fire surround that has lost its grate. The short run of pipework and the bend (to get up the chimney) aren't something that draw the eye. I'd say, especially if the wood burner is in front of the fireplace (you get all the heat that doesn't go up the flue), don't over do the size of the wood burner. You'll cook.
For me, part of putting the house right is to do the things that the house really needs - and to allow the house to break the 'style' rules. 'Different' isn't necessarily wrong. The rules of current taste sometimes ride roughshod over all the house's history. 'Pale' seems to be the way to go for many people. Wood must be lightened, walls must be neutral etc etc. I prefer what I call 'guts'. A sooty old hearth in a room where paint has been applied to all the 'wrong' surfaces and nothing matches anything else... very hard to do convincingly, but maybe too easy to wipe away. Sorry... I think I drifted off. I think about this stuff a lot.
To me... painted brick would look pretty awful in context. Tiling is just dressing the face of the fire with a veneer that will probably become as irritating as the bricks (which don't particularly irritate me). Featureless tiles that appear to have some age might not draw the eye at all and might work?).
Another thing is the black. I'm not anti-black. Your beams look delicate - at least they appear to be interestingly nibbled. The black is accentuating the spindly-ness, but also hides a multitude of sins. :wink: Stripping could reveal friable absorbent wood that could easily be damaged in the stripping process. For anyone truly anti-black, I'd say paint was the answer - paint the ceiling and the beams the same colour. By making less of them... you can actually make more of them. Incidentally, someone who visited my house for the first time said (on seeing the scarily black beams in the dining room), "You need to get rid of this black and lighten the room up. It looks like an old pub." To which I replied, "It is an old pub."
I have a wood-burner that sits just in front of an old (early) Victorian cast-iron fire surround that has lost its grate. The short run of pipework and the bend (to get up the chimney) aren't something that draw the eye. I'd say, especially if the wood burner is in front of the fireplace (you get all the heat that doesn't go up the flue), don't over do the size of the wood burner. You'll cook.
For me, part of putting the house right is to do the things that the house really needs - and to allow the house to break the 'style' rules. 'Different' isn't necessarily wrong. The rules of current taste sometimes ride roughshod over all the house's history. 'Pale' seems to be the way to go for many people. Wood must be lightened, walls must be neutral etc etc. I prefer what I call 'guts'. A sooty old hearth in a room where paint has been applied to all the 'wrong' surfaces and nothing matches anything else... very hard to do convincingly, but maybe too easy to wipe away. Sorry... I think I drifted off. I think about this stuff a lot.
Mivec... thank you for the link.
This house of mine does scramble my brain sometimes! I do have another fireplace (in the little used dining room), which still has the 60's brick... it feels as though it has more potential than the one I'm currently fussing about, but is a larger version of the way the 'ugly' fireplace looked before the gross red bricks were removed.
Although I would prefer not to have the black painted beams, from the comments on here I'm thinking it would be too big a task (at the moment) to strip them. Just having the windows restored last year took all summer (it was miserable).
Cloudscape... many thanks for your thoughts (yeap... my place was once an inn too).
This house of mine does scramble my brain sometimes! I do have another fireplace (in the little used dining room), which still has the 60's brick... it feels as though it has more potential than the one I'm currently fussing about, but is a larger version of the way the 'ugly' fireplace looked before the gross red bricks were removed.
Although I would prefer not to have the black painted beams, from the comments on here I'm thinking it would be too big a task (at the moment) to strip them. Just having the windows restored last year took all summer (it was miserable).
Cloudscape... many thanks for your thoughts (yeap... my place was once an inn too).
JoceAndChris
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I haven't really understood about this VacWash. Is there a nozzle which applies water and another which sucks up the dirty water? I couldn't go splashing a lot of water around here, because it would end up down the cracks between the floorboards or flags and make the house even damper. Also water is a very precious resource for most of the year as we aren't on mains. Does it use tons of water?
But that website is great, I realise now I've been doing it all wrong.
But that website is great, I realise now I've been doing it all wrong.
Thanks for the offer, Matt, but I don't think I'll be doing any more stripping in the foreseeable future. However, it looks as though JoceAndChris or Kaz could find the machine very useful indeed.
Joce - that's exactly what the carpet cleaner does (squirts and sucks) and I imagine the Vacwash operates in much the same way. It's brilliant - nothing to trickle between the floorboards and (if you're just using it to get the floor clean) a most gratifying tank of filthy water to pour down the drain as evidence of the muck you've removed from the floor.
Joce - that's exactly what the carpet cleaner does (squirts and sucks) and I imagine the Vacwash operates in much the same way. It's brilliant - nothing to trickle between the floorboards and (if you're just using it to get the floor clean) a most gratifying tank of filthy water to pour down the drain as evidence of the muck you've removed from the floor.
JoceAndChris
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Thanks so much Moo. I'll send a PM to Matt, Kaz suggests stripping paint is not top priority right now. It will be great to clean whilst paint stripping, I've been quite ill lately, in a poisoned kind of a way, so I am now going to show more respect to lead paint from now on! Apparently it's really unhealthy to leave the leady paint dust floating about the place, which is what sanding will do!
Gareth Hughes
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If you wish to advertise repulsive stone cladding, please do so elsewhere.bigdoozer said: