Despite the "monstrous-hideous-tiled-solid-concreteness" of the 1950s fireplace .. we felt guilty about simply destroying it, and when it came out in one piece, even more so. I phoned a number of reclamation yards, we wanted no money for it, just for them to "take it away!", however no one is interested in these at the moment, may be it will change, in about 50 years ...
I also contacted these guys who specialise in 50's fireplaces (http://www.c20fires.co.uk/fireplaces/original/postfires.htm) however they are based in Manchester and there is a limit to how far someone will drive to get these things, even if they are offered FREE!
I also tried offering it on Freecycle, without so much as a nibble of interest.
The problem with it that it was SO heavy, taking 3 blokes to move it, even then only trundelling it on wheels, not actually picking it up. It's solid concrete, then coated in tiles and the hearth protruded into the room more than double the original Victorian slate hearth which we found in "okay" condition underneath.
In the end, it met it's end .. by being smashed into many pieces on our driveway and going to the tip in about 25 car trips!
The 1950s fireplace is about to "meet its maker" ...
Solid block of cement covered in horrid 1950s tiles is heavy!
Removal of the 1950s fireplace reveals the size the original fireplace would have been .. The 1950s version has quite a narrow opening .. But the 1900 one a very high mantle
Dave has had to lower the mantle by using a metal insert and one row of bricks, then sort the inside out to accommodate the reclaimed one as well as concrete the inside to level it to the height of the new slate hearth (see covered here). Whilst the original slate hearth was in okay order, it doesn't comply with current building regs (too thin).
Dave checking the new insert will fit and my husband pretending he actually does DIY these days!!
Our "new old" fireplace in situ and looking grand!
Lovely wall lights! What are they?
ReplyDeletewe wanted something really plain, almost to blend in with the wall. These ones are just from homebase, so not a fancy lighting shop, and very reasonably priced. The reviews say the bulbs are difficult to change, but we use energy ones.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the blog post very handy to see the work you've done, good job!. Coincidentally we have exactly the same model of fireplace and im looking to take it out very soon as well. Are you able to tell me how the hearth was attached to the floor, I cant work it out on mine? Also, am I right in thinking there is likely to be brackets at the top of the fireplace attaching it to the wall?
ReplyDeleteHi. The "1950 fireplace" hearth wasn't fixed to the floor but it was joined to the rest of the fireplace. We just got a crowbar down between the crack and moved the 50s hearth away. The Victorian hearth was still intact (although a lot smaller than the 50s one sticking out over the top of it.) (There were also 2 thin iron rods joining the 2, but it was easy to crowbar the hearth away)
ReplyDeleteRegarding the fixing to the wall. There were 2 metal bars which were fixed to the back of the fireplace firstly and then the fireplace had been concreted insitu. Nothing that a crowbar and a bit of muscle couldn't shift! Since we had to lower the mantle and sort that out, we weren't that worried about making a mess of it.
Good luck with it anyway, if you haven't already sorted it.
Great, thanks for the info. Im looking forward to getting it removed! All the best
ReplyDeleteLove the 1950s fireplace, but agree that did not work in your room. Just what we are looking for to renovate our 1950s lounge but so hard to find as very people think to salvage these.
ReplyDeleteWe have just moved into an old house and have 2 fireplaces very similar to this which arent to our taste so we are going to try and remove if anybody would like them?
ReplyDeleteWhee abouts did you get the 'new old' fire place from? Looks lovely...
ReplyDeletethis post is all about the fireplace from arc restoration
ReplyDeletehttp://blog.myvictorianhouse.co.uk/2011/02/you-might-need-bit-of-vision.html
ReplyDeletei like this post, we visit again for more updates , thanks for sharing this article.
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ReplyDelete