Getting rid of ugly gas fire, then what?

[LittleTalks]

In the process of redecorating the living room in our 1930s house we have hastily ripped out a 10 year old gas fire with marble surround that just didn't fit at all with our simple, clean Skandi tastes. Now am having a blind panic (maybe slight over reaction but am 32 weeks pregnant and time is not on our side) with what is going to replace it.

In an ideal world we might have but a wood burner in then space but we have really efficient heating and no need for a heat source there. Plus we can't afford one anyway.

I have visions of filling the hole with logs and installing a simple slate mantle (floating shelf essentially) and slate hearth. I can't work out if we need to somehow block off the chimney or if the logs will suffice. I've tried getting quotes off fireplace people for my idea but they either don't reply or seem to suggest I'm requesting something mad.

Has anyone out there attempted such a thing? Or have any idea of who to approach about it? I can include a diagram if it would help, as I know MN loves a good diagram!!

What about an electric wood burner? You can use it for just light as well as heat. Prices go from 50 quid to well over a thousand. Here is a mid range one,

ao.com/product/gos20-dimplex-gosford-electric-fire-black-36978-150.aspx?&WT.z_PT=SDA&WT.z_AT=Electric%20Stove&WT.z_MT=Search&WT.z_RTM=PLA&WT.z_MAT=Dimplex&WT.z_FT=Free%20Standing&WT.z_DT=t&WT.z_PC=GOS20_BK&WT.srch=1&wt.z_cn=SDA%20-%20Electric%20Stoves%20-%20Gen&wt.z_ag=type%20generic&wt.z_kw=GOS20_BK&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIh7CH7Yzm1QIVQxYbCh0-JgZBEAQYASABEgJn8PD_BwE

We did exactly the same. Seemed like a good idea at the time - the marble fireplace was horrible. I now have a floating beam... and a hole which I can't decide what to do with. I shall watch this thread with interest.

Thanks bluntness. I hadn't thought of that. I had a google and there are some quite nice ones out there but I just feel like I'd rather have the real deal or nothing. Plus even the electric ones must get hot so with 2 under 2 we'd need an ugly guard to keep it safe and I just can't see us ever using it. We used the old gas one exactly zero times in the 2 years since we moved in.

Who fitted your floating beam starling? Every time I ask for a quote you'd think I'd asked them to install a spaceship there! And what have you done about blocking off the chimney?

This is basically what I want in the hole.

I am contemplating this, I will be choosing a fireplace from here if I go through with it. My house is not a forever house, I thought it was but it isn't now due to circumstances changing.

Hence the contemplation rather than doing, not sure what to do. I have done it before though, had three cast iron fireplaces installed in another house and loved them.

They are not cheap but are a lot cheaper than a wood burner, because an open fire doesn't generate the same intense heat in the chimney you don't need to line it unless it isn't sound.

Guards don't need to be ugly either if you can stretch to a made to measure thing. I have had two lovely ones made in the last year.

LittleTalks We had our next door neighbour do it. He's a builder and was doing various bits for us so haven't got a breakdown of the cost. I can quite believe your spaceship analogy because when we went round fireplace showrooms to try and get some inspiration they couldn't get their head round what we wanted either. Seems pointless to me to have a faux fire and we didn't have the budget to install a log burner. Those logs look great.

There's just some mesh in the chimney, don't know how else to describe it really. It was never some gaping hole in the first place. I'm not entirely sure the gas fire was legal so capping it off was one of the first things we did on moving in.

We have a 30's house and took out a brick fireplace which had had a gas fire but that had already been taken out. We knocked it back to the original opening, got an oak beam with the intentions of putting in a stove but then realised we didn't have enough money..oops. So I got a cheap hearth laid, chimney swept and have a fire basket for now, which to be honest I love and I kinda regret not getting an old fireplace put in but hey ho. You can really hear the wind coming down it on windy nights!

If you have electric you can just put the lights on so it looks lit - no need to actually use it or need a fire guard

We've had a fairly minimalist gas stove fitted , have got everything else just plastered no mantle / surround at all . It looks lovely .

Stacked logs look gorgeous but only do it if you are totally cool with sharing your house with a LOT of spiders and other bugs. It is a minibeast nirvana.

Barchester, did you have trouble getting g a fireplace installed? Because I currently have a gaping hole in the wall AND want to lay a wooden floor in the sitting room, and we don't want to lay the floor until we have a heath sorted but I can't find anyone who will install the fireplace I want. I had one person call round but he said that my 1930s chimney would almost certainly need to be lined at huge expense so I gave up, and am currently living with the ugliest carpet ever AND a hole in the wall.

Gardengeek, your idea also sounds promising. So I could get everything set up for a wood burner now, and then do the expensive chimney stuff when I have more money? And maybe put a cheap electric stove in the space in the meantime?

Not at all broomstick. We had a really good team of local tradesmen that we built up (by doing so much work to old houses!). Our bricklayer was a retained firefighter and had him inspect the chimney when he was sorting out the soldier bricks. He was a perfectionist in his work and very picky - he told me that he would only look at it if I was going to have it done properly , that was the first one!

He said it was fine. So I took his advice. Ask your chimney sweep (if you have one) for recommendations.

My chimney sweep had a camera he could inspect with. My houses were much older than 30s and the chimneys were fine. I am thinking of moving to a 30s house though, viewed one today - really solid construction - I can't believe that the chimney will have deteriorated so much it needs lining.

I can't really believe it either, and I suspect the surveyor who told me of trying to sell me a stove rather than an open fire. I fell in love with my 1930s house when we extended it and I discovered just how solidly it has been built. I'll get in touch with my builder and ask him if he knows someone who can assess my chimney. I am very keen on the Barcelona fireplace from Cast Iron Fireplaces.

We had a lovely electric stuck on the wall type fire when we moved into our 30's semi. I knocked through to reopen the original hole then had a hearth and surround fitted.

I had someone out from a fire showroom but he was obsessed with putting a wood burner in and said I'd have to have the chimney lined, an air vent installed etc. He couldn't seem to grasp that I did not want a burner, it's a south facing room and there is no need.

In the end I had the chimney swept and left the opening as it is as I liked the look of the bricks. I ordered the surround and fire basket from Cast Fireplaces and the hearth from a local company. I need the chimney checked if I want to use the fire but haven't got around to it.