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Fireplace Fitting Guide

This Guide from www.castfireplaces.co.uk ltd is designed to give information to the customer for reference in fireplace suitability it MUST NOT be used as instructions for fitting.

We recommend the fitting of all fireplaces to be undertaken by a competent fitter registered with HETAS for solid fuel and GAS SAFE

Assemble all the pieces that have come with your fireplace and make sure the opening is large enough not only to take the cast iron back but also on tiled fireplaces to make sure the tile cheeks fit into the builders opening of the chimney breast

When you buy one of our fireplace packages you can be assured that all the items fit together and are designed to be used with the appropriate fuel so you don’t need to worry whether the items are compatible.

Opening Preparation

You should now measure the opening to decide if any of the brickwork needs to be cut away to form a larger opening. Most older houses will have an original opening of around 36″ x 36″ it may have been bricked or plastered up over the years to reduce openings to whatever fireplace was used.

An average opening for a tiled fireplace needs to be 18″ wide 26″ high and 9″ depth and for arched inserts it needs to be 22″ wide 30.5″ high and 6.5″depth. If you have that opening there is no need to alter opening.

Hearth Laying

The first job is to lay the hearth on a thin layer of sloppy mortar this needs to be level as everything sits on top of the hearth once you are happy this is level fill the area inside of the chimney breast up to the level of the hearth with cement mix and allow to set.

Cast Insert Fitting

Sit the fireplace surround against the wall so it is flat at the outer legs measure the distance from the wall for the rebate of the mantel this will then determine how far the cast sits off the wall.

Now this has been checked it is time to fix the Arched Insert or Tiled Insert to the wall we use bonding plaster for the 1” rebated mantels as you will only have a 1″ gap behind the cast fireplace. For the 3″ rebated mantels cut some brick slips and use these either side building two pillars on the hearth and a small lintel across the top then seal against the back of the cast forming an airtight seal.

Back filling

Once this has all dried and you are happy with seal it is time to backfill the fireplace with vermiculite or small bits of rubble top it off with cement cap so all the soot will fall into the fireplace opening.

Mantel Fixing

The Mantel is then fixed in place over the fireplace insert it is fixed to the wall with Concealed Fixing brackets for the timber surrounds or for the limestone or marble mantels you need to glue the L brackets to the inside legs and fix with screws and rawplugs to the wall two at the top and two at the bottom of the legs. Also use a strong adhesive such as clear marble or stone glue to adhere each piece together and also to the wall.

Sealing

Gently sand the limestone mantel removing any small chips or marks then wipe clean with a lint free cloth then it’s time to apply the sealer coat evenly removing any excess allow to soak into the fireplace and a day or two for everything to dry before using.

That’s all there is to know but make sure you use a competent qualified fitter for both solid fuel and gas we never supply comprehensive fitting instructions.

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