TheMitchells Posted July 21, 2016 Share Posted July 21, 2016 We are thinking about installing a woodburning stove in the middle room of our renovation. After having a quote of £3k for just that one stove, liner and fitting, we are hoping to do it ourselves. The opening is quite wide and has been built from old bricks. however, some of it needs pointing and a few extra bricks. I have been told to use Hydrated lime, is this correct for an old Victorian house, which we suspect had lime mortar used origonally. But the main question is how best to clean up the bricks. It will look lovely if we can clean them up rather than lining with cement board. I am worried that if we just try things, we could be making it worse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterW Posted July 21, 2016 Share Posted July 21, 2016 Soda blasting would do it as it's quite gentle but it makes a mess ..!! You can buy kits to do it yourself with a decent compressor but the media can be a bugger to use as the air supply needs to be perfectly dry. Sand blasting will be too harsh and it's not fun indoors and you end up needing an air fed mask ...! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterW Posted July 21, 2016 Share Posted July 21, 2016 And repoint using 1:3 mix of 3.5 NHL lime to building sand..! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barney12 Posted July 21, 2016 Share Posted July 21, 2016 1 hour ago, PeterW said: Soda blasting would do it as it's quite gentle but it makes a mess ..!! You can buy kits to do it yourself with a decent compressor but the media can be a bugger to use as the air supply needs to be perfectly dry. Sand blasting will be too harsh and it's not fun indoors and you end up needing an air fed mask ...! +1 Soda is by far the best option but as stated isn't really practical for DIY. You could try a brick acid but it's a bit hit and miss and often ineffective on soot. Crazy as it might sound but if your set on the brick finish then it might be cheaper to buy some reclaimed bricks and reface! Personally I think I'd line and plaster it. Perhaps spend the money you've saved on a nice oak mantel beam / floating shelf. Plenty options on EvilBay. It will provide a nice contemporary look. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vijay Posted July 21, 2016 Share Posted July 21, 2016 another option could be tiling it? That's what I did with mine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Onoff Posted July 21, 2016 Share Posted July 21, 2016 Nothing lost by trying this and it's something you can do together! http://m.wikihow.com/Clean-Soot-from-Brick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMitchells Posted July 26, 2016 Author Share Posted July 26, 2016 thanks guys - I shall give them all a go - starting with the easiest and as you say, maybe it would be cheaper to line with plaster and add a nice wooden mantle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMitchells Posted October 22, 2016 Author Share Posted October 22, 2016 Just to give an update; we have had a quote from another firm, which a friend used and recommended. They are a third cheaper than the first and were hapy for me to source the stove, have it delivered to them and then they will bring it to instal. which is a huge benefit as our access is awful and would have been difficult. We have given up on the idea of doing it ourselves as the regulations require it all to be certificed and finding someone to certify it after we did the work was proving difficult. And as it would have been the first time we'd have done it, we are happy to watch and learn this time. We have gone for a multifuel in the middle room and just leave the front room as an open fire. It already had an old Jetmaster Open fire which seemed in reasonable condition. but the fire chap advised us against it as it needed insulating which was not cheap(unless we used the Rockwool that we took out but I am not sure that was the correct insulating stuff for a fire surround. He siad to just take out the old Jetmaster and instal a basket. After I clarified that he did mean a FIRE basket and not a floral arrngement (I wasnt sure!! so had to ask), I was straight onto Ebay and got a nice one for £40 and we hope to sell the Jetmaster for about the same. However, the next problem was the state of the walls within the fire itself, once the Jetmaster had been removed. There were holes galore in the brickwork and looked like stones had just been shoved in, higglety pigglety. I had some cement left over so today started filling in some of the larger holes with the intention of finishing off soon. But just thought I'd check; does PeterW's comment still stand? On 21/07/2016 at 20:47, PeterW said: And repoint using 1:3 mix of 3.5 NHL lime to building sand..! Should I be using lime and sand, rather than my normal cement mix? I intend to make it sound and smooth the walls and sit the fire basket inside. A friend has given me sone wood logs so i cant wait to try it. Luckily the weather hasnt been too cold but it will soon be getting very cold in the house and a fire would be wonderful. This is after I had filled in some of the worst holes. The dark grey stuff is my work. My bargain purchase. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brickie Posted October 22, 2016 Share Posted October 22, 2016 For an un-lined chimney,we were taught at College that lime was inadvisable as it reacts with the products of combustion to the detriment of the structural integrity. From demolition experience,I can tell you I would clean mortar off bricks all day from a stack-virtually clean themselves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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