Getting an original Victorian fireplace is easy in the UK. You can get them on
EBay and Gumtree (Craig's List
equivalent). There are also Heritage Reclaim shops and sites that restore original ones for a hefty price. Above is our large lounge fireplace from the back.
We buy it on
EBay for very cheap, but on the way home the mantle breaks.
There are missing pieces like the grate to hold the wood or coal, the fire brick, and the flue.
Here you can see the missing pieces. The dated tiles (60's style) are cracked and since we plopped it in our yard the large cast iron fire has begun to rust. It needs professional help!
As for the small bedroom fireplaces. The one above has 5 layers of paint on it built up over the years. I begin the slow process of taking it off with
Nitromors (a chemical acid that melts it off).
The detailed bits are the toughest and I use a wire brush to get all the paint out of the cracks.
Meanwhile we have an expert from Architectural Salvage (on
Haydons Road in SW London) come and take away our big fireplace.
It is brought back in pristine condition. He has welded the mantle shelf, cast a new fire brick, found another fire grate and incorporated it in, made us a new flue,
reblacked it with graphite paste...and...
...put in new tiles. The above tiles were in a beautiful (but too tall) fireplace in his shop window for months. I would admire the tiles
every time I went past and decided to take a picture of them so that I could find similar ones. When I arrived it had been sold, but the buyer had another set of tiles so these 10 were left in a pile in the back. I prefer the fine Victorian detail tiles to the art
nouveau or bolder styles. The blue/green will go well with the maroon walls.
Meanwhile the one bedroom fireplace has been completely stripped and I am
reblacking both of them.
The detail is beautiful.
Once done with all the grates, mantles, and bits...
...they are brought into our lounge, the current storage room.
Getting an original Victorian fireplace is easy in the UK. You can get them on EBay and Gumtree (Craig's List equivalent). There are also Heritage Reclaim shops and sites that restore original ones for a hefty price. Above is our large lounge fireplace from the back.
We buy it on EBay for very cheap, but on the way home the mantle breaks.
There are missing pieces like the grate to hold the wood or coal, the fire brick, and the flue.
Here you can see the missing pieces. The dated tiles (60's style) are cracked and since we plopped it in our yard the large cast iron fire has begun to rust. It needs professional help!
As for the small bedroom fireplaces. The one above has 5 layers of paint on it built up over the years. I begin the slow process of taking it off with Nitromors (a chemical acid that melts it off).
The detailed bits are the toughest and I use a wire brush to get all the paint out of the cracks.
Meanwhile we have an expert from Architectural Salvage (on Haydons Road in SW London) come and take away our big fireplace.
It is brought back in pristine condition. He has welded the mantle shelf, cast a new fire brick, found another fire grate and incorporated it in, made us a new flue, reblacked it with graphite paste...and...
...put in new tiles. The above tiles were in a beautiful (but too tall) fireplace in his shop window for months. I would admire the tiles every time I went past and decided to take a picture of them so that I could find similar ones. When I arrived it had been sold, but the buyer had another set of tiles so these 10 were left in a pile in the back. I prefer the fine Victorian detail tiles to the art nouveau or bolder styles. The blue/green will go well with the maroon walls.
Meanwhile the one bedroom fireplace has been completely stripped and I am reblacking both of them.
The detail is beautiful.
Once done with all the grates, mantles, and bits...
...they are brought into our lounge, the current storage room.
2 comments:
Wooo! Looks nice!
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