Help me make a decision about our fireplace

[Somethinginthewoodshed]

I'm too tired and coldy to scuds myself

We have an empty hole if a fireplace. It needs something

We can't afford a wood burner, which would be our first choice. They cone in at around £2k

I've acquired a reproduction cast iron fireplace, black granite hearth and wooden surround. It's ok. Nit my dream fireplace but would be ok

I've had a couple of quotes and istallation will be about £500+ vat

If I did have £600 going spare there's so many other things we need / want and this fireplace is in a seldom used room. It's more for appearance than function. But I would like it to work. I don't want a fakey

But this fireplace bugs me. And we've got this cast iron one sitting in the utility room in the way

There's other factors but I fear this is long and boring
enough.

Spend £600 we haven't really got on something that is ok

Or live with the ugly hole for about 10 years until we can afford a woodburner?

This is probably not going to come across properly, but er ... why is your hole empty? Have you tried filling it with something? logs seem fairly popular at the moment.

Don't spend £600 on something you don't really like

Look on Ebay for woodburners and then contact a HETAS person. I don't think it should cost £2000 if you shop around. Good time of year to start looking as it's now getting warming (ha ha ha!)

Personally I would put in the fireplace that you have (DIY rather than spending £500+VAT) and reckon it would only be decorative and won't work.... and then save up for what I really wanted ie the woodburner.

If you paint the wood surround white it will look pretty good (IMO).

By the way £500+VAT is a lot for installation. We paid £400 (no VAT) to get ours done recently and that is London prices.

Machine mart are good for budget woodburners. Get a few quotes...has to be a HETAS person, but prices are very varied!

Thanks all. Minipie I'm leaning towards your suggestion of putting it in kind of decoratively.

The reason it's so much is that the cast iron bit is not quite wide enough so each side needs filling in a bit so it can be sealed, ice gad two quotes and they're roughly the same

R3d. The base of the hole and sticking out into the room where the hearth would be us just bare concrete so even some logs or whatnot it's still going to look wrong

The expensive bit of the woodburner option is the chimney lining. Wed also need a big slab of slate or something for the hearth. And a beam or something for a mantle

I will keep mulling it over, and tripping over the damn fireplace in the utility room while I do

Ye gods. Typos. Sausage fingers sorry

Only on Mumsnet would someone say "Ye gods" as a preface to apologising for typos.

Go on, just bung the fireplace into the hole. It doesn't need to be installed properly if it's only decorative. (Think of it as a better place to store it than the utility room...) Then carry on thinking about other options.

I'm going to do it!

I'm inspired!

:)

I'm going to do it!

I'm inspired!

:)

Hmmmm even

We have the same...ghastly hole and weird concrete slab on the floor which isnt even central to the hole. Grrr.

We will be putting the tv on the wall and building a unit in the hole to house dvd etc. I have a giant rug which covers most of the floor and the whole slab which thankfully is level with the floor.

Only needs lining according to regs if Newbuild or not structurally sound..