Case study · Restoration

Stone Fireplace Restoration

An old fireplace opening in a bare rubble wall, rebuilt with a new dressed sandstone surround, and the whole wall taken back to the stone and pointed.

Surround

Dressed buff sandstone

Wall

Exposed rubble stone, pointed

This fireplace started as an old opening in a rubble stone wall, its lintel propped on two timbers, with old plaster still on parts of the wall.

We rebuilt the opening with a new surround in dressed buff sandstone and pointed the whole wall around it, leaving an exposed stone wall with the fireplace set into it.

Before

An old fireplace opening in a rubble stone wall, its lintel propped on two timbers. Old plaster was still on parts of the wall, and there was a recess to the left.

Bare rubble stone wall with patches of old plaster, an old fireplace opening with its lintel propped on two timbers, and a recess to the left. — The old fireplace opening, propped on timbers.

Building in the new surround

With the wall back to the stone, the opening was rebuilt with a new surround in dressed buff sandstone: a lintel across the top and a stone either side. The new lintel was held on adjustable props while it set, and the head of the recess beside it was propped too.

The textured face of the surround picks up the tooling on the old stones round it. Once the props were out, the opening was lined inside.

Rubble stone wall taken back to the stone, a new sandstone fireplace surround with its lintel on two adjustable props, and the recess head to the left propped too. — The wall back to the stone, with the new lintel on props.

New dressed sandstone lintel and side stones set into the stone wall, the lintel held on two adjustable steel props, the old firebox behind. — The new lintel propped while it sets.

New dressed sandstone fireplace surround built into a rubble stone wall with tooled faces, the opening inside lined. — Props out, and the opening lined.

Close view of the new fireplace surround in dressed buff sandstone, its textured face set against the old stone wall. — The textured face of the new stone.

The new sandstone fireplace surround seen from the left, its lintel and side stones worked with a textured face. — The lintel and side stones, from the left.

Pointing the wall

With the surround in, the whole wall was pointed around it, and a new timber lintel went in over the recess to the left.

The whole rubble stone wall freshly pointed around the new sandstone fireplace surround, a new timber lintel over the recess to the left. — The wall pointed around the new surround.

Finished

The finished wall is exposed stone from floor to ceiling, with the new sandstone surround set into it and the recess beside it.

The finished stone wall and sandstone fireplace surround seen from the left. — From the left, with the recess in the foreground.

The result

Before & after

Old fireplace to new stone surround

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