Fireplace Recess Prep for Wood Stove - Hearth Paint and Whether to Remove Black "Stuff"?

[carbs for arbs]

Well spotted!  And yes, certainly been there a while!  Original do you think?  

 

It's actually quite high up so it's fine for the stove, and we can get round the flue situation using twin wall...  

 

Cheers

[Ratman]

Can you not lay a aesthetically looking flag/stone in the bottom. Possibly spray a pva solution on your sides to keep/hold the original look, brushing pva on would smudge everything and turn it all black looking. Once dry a pva solution would not affect the look at all, dont use sbr or the likes as it could make it look shiny and milky looking. Nice bit of history there as others have said [emoji106]

[neiln]

clearly.  but it means a stove install won't meet regs.  Likelihood of a problem...low, but it won't meet regs.  As I said, 'Slight' problem

[carbs for arbs]

Good thoughts @Ratman and thanks for sharing them.  Yes, we love the history, and whilst it's not your typical inglenook and I couldn't see it adorning the front page of Country Living magazine, we've grown to like it all the more for it   

 

We have thought of laying a flag...  But a few things: a) the stove is quite wide so once in you won't see much of the bottom, b) time is of the essence as it will (hopefully) be going in in a couple of weeks or so, and we don't move all that quickly (plus have other things to prep), c) more height would bring it closer to the piece of wood in the wall.  

 

RE PVA, how would that be with the heat?  And without using that - or anything else - what do you reckon might happen to the sides?  

 

Cheers

 

 

[carbs for arbs]

2 minutes ago, neiln said:

clearly.  but it means a stove install won't meet regs.  Likelihood of a problem...low, but it won't meet regs.  As I said, 'Slight' problem

 

The stove or the flue?

[pancakedan]

I painted two of my fire places with white emulsion, it’s been over seven years and I’ve had no issues or discolouring. My bricks also looked likes yours, a couple of good scrubs with washing up liquid should sort them out ready for painting.

Think it did take about four coats to get a good finish and the first coat was watered down to act as a primer.

[neiln]

The flue, but I hadn't thought of twinwall to solve it.

the stove...check the distances.  might be ok if its a convector....i guess it might even as a radiating stove but...maybe the recess is bigger than it appears to me.

 

dunno if original but I think possibly.  if the brick arch above were original it seems a bit heavy for a later install to hold a bit of infill.  It does seem the fireplace has been altered a few times!

 

[carbs for arbs]

@pancakedan - thanks for sharing, but it's only the bottom we want to paint.  We like the rest of it as it is.  The stove has no feet and so will be in direct contact with the hearth; although it does have an ashpan section so there is a gap between the fire bed and the stove bottom.

 

@neiln - yes, there's just enough clearance for the stove top, so all's ok.  Thanks for pointing it out though.  Regs aside, I think low and slight are with a capital L and S respectively!  The wood is almost half a meter from the stove top, and will be a fair distance from the flue as well.  I'm not sure at what temperature wood combusts, but I really, rally can't see it getting that hot...

[Ratman]

Good thoughts @Ratman and thanks for sharing them.  Yes, we love the history, and whilst it's not your typical inglenook and I couldn't see it adorning the front page of Country Living magazine, we've grown to like it all the more for it [emoji4]  
 
We have thought of laying a flag...  But a few things: a) the stove is quite wide so once in you won't see much of the bottom, b) time is of the essence as it will (hopefully) be going in in a couple of weeks or so, and we don't move all that quickly (plus have other things to prep), c) more height would bring it closer to the piece of wood in the wall.  
 
RE PVA, how would that be with the heat?  And without using that - or anything else - what do you reckon might happen to the sides?  
 
Cheers
 
 

PVA is fine once dry regards the heat. If you left it alone then worst case (only guessing) it may dry the surfaces that much with the heat it attracts that it makes it dusty/flakey so over time you may lose the look of what is there now when dusting/cleaning round the fire. Regards gaining height? You could use a thin calibrated cut flag (18mm or 22mm) on a bed of mortar (20mm thick is) and only be talking around a 40mm raise 🤷‍♂️ up to you though.

[carbs for arbs]

Sorry to take this a bit further off topic...  

 

But there are some gaps between the bricks, some of them quite deep.  We want to patch them up before the stove is installed.  Does anyone know if this would do the trick:  

 

https://www.screwfix.com/p/cementone-general-purpose-mortar-grey-5kg/36857

 

Or do we need to look for something that is more heat resistant?  That being said, I guess we don't know what has been used to point the rest of the bricks anyhow...  

 

EDIT - reading through the questions on Screwfix, I don't think it would be suitable due to heat and also the depth of the holes.  Not certain though.  So I guess I should ask now more generally what folk might recommend?  Cheers

 

 

 

 

Edited February 4, 2021 by carbs for arbs