Has anyone put a fireplace back in?

[HappyCrochetHooker]

Just that really 😁 trying to buy a Victorian house at the moment. The downstairs has fireplaces but the upstairs ones have been taken out. The chimney breast is still there (although now that’s where the radiators are) so I wondered how much off a faff/expense it would be to put some Victorian fireplaces back in.

All experiences or advice gratefully received 😁

Yes you can definitely put one back in BUT it’s nigh on impossible to get a builder who will do it unless you buy the fireplace from a shop who has their own fitters.

I replaced one recently ie took out a 1980s one ( so the “hole” was there and the chimney clean) and it cost £800 in labour. You’ll also have to factor in the cost of the fireplace itself and the slate hearth.

Just to add, if they’re small fireplaces upstairs and the hole has just been boarded up, it’ll be cheaper. You can sometimes get “all in one” cast iron fireplaces ie surround and insert in one, which literally screw on to the wall ( with large screws!!
If you’re going for marble, they’ll have to be chiselled in and stuck properly as dangerous otherwise.

Yes, agreed. I bought a Victorian iron fireplace from a junk shop and spent another £650 for a chimney sweep to fit it and a granite hearth. It's lovely, makes the room feel balanced. The flue has a chimney balloon but it could be used with firewood if ever necessary.

Oh thanks, that’s really helpful @Rainydayinlondon!

Thats interesting @Meadowfinch I’d never have thought of a sweep fitting it. Not in the midlands by any chance are you? 😁 I don’t even necessarily want it to work, just make the room back to how it looked I guess. The chimney breasts don’t look great with radiators on them.

We did, but they are just decorative. They aren't working fireplaces.

It's a pretty easy diy job if you aren't going to be using the fire and the hole has just been boarded over.

I've bought a couple of lovely Victorian fireplaces and surrounds on eBay. They are heavy and we had to collect them but in a large room with very high ceilings it has transformed the room. I put it into a buy to let I have. My DH took down some hardboard blocking the fireplace hole up and the old fireplace had been sold. I just kept looking until I found a suitable one then DH collected and fitted it in for us. We have never used it. It is for decorative purposes but if chimney swept I suppose it could be used.

We had them and put actual fires in them .. the kids (teenagers) bloody love them xx

Agreed. It's actually very easy even if the hole has been bricked up, just very messy. We put three cast iron fireplaces into various rooms in our last house. The hardest part was stripping the old paint off first.

We've put quite a few back in ourselves, including at our current house where we then had a wood burner professionally installed.

OH does the grunt work and I'm his labourer 😁

To create a focal point in rooms were there weren't any, we've also built faux chimney breasts from timber/plasterboard and fitted reclaimed fireplaces into those (obviously not to use as working fireplaces!)

If you're ok with DIY it can save a fortune and there are some bargain fireplaces/surrounds on Ebay/marketplace etc. Our most recent find was a pair of late Georgian/early Victorian surrounds for £40 on an Ebay buy-it-now.