How to Open Up a Chimney Breast

Many older homes have chimney breasts that were blocked up when central heating became popular. With a few simple tools a blocked-up chimney breast can be relatively easily opened to create an attractive space. This can be used to house an electric fire or some other decoration, or as the first step in bringing the chimney back into full use. Either way, opening up a blocked-up chimney breast is the perfect way to create a focal point for the room.

Dropcloth
Lump hammer
Cold chisel
3 builder's buckets
Steel brush
Soft sand
Lime
Cement
Trowel

Instructions

- 1
  Spread the dropcloth on the floor around the chimney breast. Estimate where the middle of the original opening is; it is usually about 16 inches above the floor in the center of the breast. Using a hammer and chisel, knock out a square inch of plaster from the underlying masonry.
- 2
  Chip away at the plaster to expose the masonry, working outward in all directions an inch at a time. Stop chipping vertically when the lintel, a horizontal supporting timber marking the top of the opening, is reached. Follow the vertical edges of the opening downward from the lintel to the floor until all the plaster has been removed and the masonry exposed.
- 3
  Remove the courses of masonry covering the opening, starting with the course immediately below the lintel. Use the hammer and chisel to loosen courses and pull them outward onto the dust sheet. Transfer all debris to builder's buckets as you proceed.
- 4
  Clean off protruding pieces of plaster and brick with a steel brush and brush all debris from the opening to leave a clean interior. Prepare heat-resistant lime cement by combining soft sand, lime and cement in a 4:2:1 ratio in a bucket and stirring with a stick until thoroughly mixed. Plaster the lime cement over any damaged brickwork and plaster and leave to set for 24 hours.

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