How to fill old gas fireplace cavity?

[mickyg]

 

 

 

 

Need some tips and suggestions on what to do with this cavity, particularly the base as it’s exposed to the subfloor - What would you use to cover this?

Recently had the gas heater removed and have no intentions of replacing it.

[EricL]

Hello @mickyg 

If you have no plans of turning this into a proper fireplace you can cover the gap with marine plywood and cement sheeting. Both sheets can be glued into place to prevent it from moving or being taken off. You can then cover the opening with bricks and find a similar tile profile to compliment the tiles that are currently there. Another option is to place a Mistral 2000W Flame Effect Electric Fireplace to give the illusion of a fireplace.

If you had a specific vision as to what you wanted to do, please let us know and we'll make further suggestions.

Let me call on our experienced members @Dave-1 and @Nailbag for their recommendations.

If you need further assistance, please let us know.

Eric

[Nailbag]

Hi @mickyg 

I guess the first question is, what do you want the final outcome to look for? We can provide lots of solutions but all will vary depending on what you actually want to achieve.

Have you go any samples of what you want this area to look like?

nailbag

[Dave-1]

Good Morning @mickyg 

Im thinking along the lines of @Nailbag , there a abunch of options but it comes down to how you want to redo the area. Everything from

-Ripping out those tiles

-Filling just the hole and battening out the vertical opening

-Having similar tiles over the opening as @EricL has sugegsted.

-What are the plans for the brown floor tiles?

Once you know the limits then we can go from there. I ahve removed my old gas heater from the loungeroom and ended up removing the lot. I was lucky as in the mantel was totally fake and had floorboards underneath. Is your fireplace hole built into the wall or does it step out from the wall all the way?

Dave

[mickyg]

Ok. After much back and fourth, I’ve decided to leave it empty and just create a feature. 

This is what I’m thinking; 

- Sand back the timber shelving for more natural/less orange colour. 

- Replace the slate tiles with vj or easy craft panelling.

- Remove the dark brown tiles at the base and replace with a different tile that will also cover the base of the cavity.

Questions are;

1. What do cover the giant hole that exposes the subfloor? Would I need something stronger than plywood? 
bare in mind I want to tile over it.

2. Can I panel over the slate facade or am I best to remove this, clean it up and panel over the brick? 

Cheers! 

 

[mickyg]

Thank you Eric! 

What would be the best material to for the base of the cavity? It just a whole into the subfloor at the moment and my intention would be to tile over it. Thanks

[EricL]

Hello @mickyg 

You do have other options such as using STRUCTAflor 19 x 3600 x 600mm General Purpose YellowTongue and then placing James Hardie 1800 x 1200 x 6mm 2.16m² Ceramic Tile Underlay Flooring. You can build a timber base formwork and pour cement to create a concrete floor. There is also the option of using bricks in combination with the timber base formwork. It all depends on how much work you wish to put in regards to covering the opening.

If you need further assistance, please let us know.

Eric