The Home Improvements Thread (2)

[hellfire]

On the topic of fire places.

I am in the process of purchasing my 1st home.
The property has a chimney and a fireplace that has never been used. (ie. there is no firebox fitting inside the fireplace.)
I can confirm this to be true as there is absolutely NO SIGNS that fireplace has seen a fire in my lifetime.
The owner lived there for almost 50 years, sadly due to her husband's passing she needs to sell.
The house was initially built for a German man at the time according to German design/quality standards (read: very high quality workmanship).

My question:
What can I get to put inside of the fireplace that is NOT an open fire (ie. something that can close with a door)?
There is a beautiful creamy carpet in the living room and I would hate to have the fireplace spit little embers all over the place while it is burning in the background.
My main purpose would be to heat up the area during cold times and to add ambience.

Ideally I am looking for a cast iron type of fireplace with a door that can close off the exposed flame from the living room while exhausting into the existing chimney however obviously heat still has to radiate inside the living room.
Would a normal cast iron standalone fireplace fit inside this existing fireplace or is there a built-in fireplace model that has a glass door?

I feel like I might be rambling a bit here so let me know if something is unclear.

Thanks

You probably need the chimney checked for suitability.
Even at German quality standards and no usage, the parts can deteriorate over 50 years

 

[xrapidx]

My fireplace is in the centre of a 90m2 area and it heats it perfectly. I would think that the location of the stove would be key if you are trying to heat a large area.

I think we paid a total of R18k for ours including everything.

I'm trying to heat multiple rooms... being an open place house, from kitchen to bedroom's.

RED is the room where the fireplace goes - see corner top right of room.

 

[rodga]

I doubt one fireplace will work for that whole area. At best the kitchen will get some of the heat. Then some of the heat will also be lost through the outside walls.

How many and how big are your windows? What type of glass/frames? Can also be a source of big heat loss.
Roof insulation?
Can you put one in the lounge?

 

[GrootBaas]

Guys, what is the trick with mixing tile cement?

I bought a 5kg bag, mixed some of it with water until it was like a putty-like thickness - not runny at all. Just using it to fill a gap (not for tiling). Like 3 days later the cement is hard on the outside, but turns out it's still soft underneath the surface so now I've started to remove it and will have to try again.

Is it possible that I didn't mix it properly? I mixed it by hand until there was no more dry powder left, but thinking maybe that was not enough? Also, the cold weather is not helping I guess. Or what else can the issue be?

 

[hellfire]

I'm trying to heat multiple rooms... being an open place house, from kitchen to bedroom's.

RED is the room where the fireplace goes - see corner top right of room.

View attachment 846833

A big fireplace could probably do that for you, but you'll smash through wood and it will likely be unbearably hot near to the fireplace

 

[WAslayer]

Guys, what is the trick with mixing tile cement?

I bought a 5kg bag, mixed some of it with water until it was like a putty-like thickness - not runny at all. Just using it to fill a gap (not for tiling). Like 3 days later the cement is hard on the outside, but turns out it's still soft underneath the surface so now I've started to remove it and will have to try again.

Is it possible that I didn't mix it properly? I mixed it by hand until there was no more dry powder left, but thinking maybe that was not enough? Also, the cold weather is not helping I guess. Or what else can the issue be?

How deep is the gap..? When filling, especially deeper gaps, you should do layers, waiting for each later to dry, before doing the next..

As for your mixing, I'm not sure but, if you are filling a deep gap all in one go, doesn't matter if you mix like a tile cement mixing god, it won't dry evenly..

 

[GrootBaas]

How deep is the gap..? When filling, especially deeper gaps, you should do layers, waiting for each later to dry, before doing the next..

As for your mixing, I'm not sure but, if you are filling a deep gap all in one go, doesn't matter if you mix like a tile cement mixing god, it won't dry evenly..

It's up to about 7cm in spots. Will try your approach, thanks. And mix it better. Will also give it a little bit of heat with the heatgun to see if dry's better, but sounds to me like heatgun will only dry the exterior again.

 

[alqassam]

It's up to about 7cm in spots. Will try your approach, thanks. And mix it better. Will also give it a little bit of heat with the heatgun to see if dry's better, but sounds to me like heatgun will only dry the exterior again.

Do you have to use tile cement?

Fill the majority of the gap with expanding foam and skim the surface with cement or plaster

 

[alqassam]

It's up to about 7cm in spots. Will try your approach, thanks. And mix it better. Will also give it a little bit of heat with the heatgun to see if dry's better, but sounds to me like heatgun will only dry the exterior again.

Do you have to use tile cement?

Fill the majority of the gap with expanding foam and skim the surface with cement or plaster

 

[Steamy Tom]

It's up to about 7cm in spots. Will try your approach, thanks. And mix it better. Will also give it a little bit of heat with the heatgun to see if dry's better, but sounds to me like heatgun will only dry the exterior again.

Don't use a heat gun...

 

[xrapidx]

A big fireplace could probably do that for you, but you'll smash through wood and it will likely be unbearably hot near to the fireplace

I'm not so sure, I think the amount of glass/doors - and especially the stacking doors will offset the extra heat.

I think this is the top contender at the moment: https://hydrofire.co.za/product/rubin-lux-red/

 

[Steamy Tom]

I'm not so sure, I think the amount of glass/doors - and especially the stacking doors will offset the extra heat.

I think this is the top contender at the moment: https://hydrofire.co.za/product/rubin-lux-red/

question for a noob like me, whats wrong with a regular old jet master? obviously this looks good AF but im mainly curious?

 

[alqassam]

question for a noob like me, whats wrong with a regular old jet master? obviously this looks good AF but im mainly curious?

Google

Closed combustion fireplace benefits

 

[Arzy]

So speaking of fireplaces, entrance to my house is this big double volume with a gas fireplace. The fireplace simply isn't effective as I'd like and I've been thinking of replacing with a double sided wood burner.

First problem is that there isn't an existing chimney going to the roof. Per the picture below I think brick structure is hollow so I should be able to run chimney pipes up the inside.

Next issue would be the slab which forms the floor of the room above the existing fireplace. Would it be wrong to break a hole through this for the same chimney pipe?

The pipe would be exposed in the room but we don't mind this as it would heat up that plac nicely as well.

 

[Steamy Tom]

So speaking of fireplaces, entrance to my house is this big double volume with a gas fireplace. The fireplace simply isn't effective as I'd like and I've been thinking of replacing with a double sided wood burner.

First problem is that there isn't an existing chimney going to the roof. Per the picture below I think brick structure is hollow so I should be able to run chimney pipes up the inside.

Next issue would be the slab which forms the floor of the room above the existing fireplace. Would it be wrong to break a hole through this for the same chimney pipe?

The pipe would be exposed in the room but we don't mind this as it would heat up that plac nicely as well.

bro... your house must be lit af

 

[xrapidx]

question for a noob like me, whats wrong with a regular old jet master? obviously this looks good AF but im mainly curious?

Efficiency...

 

[Arzy]

bro... your house must be lit af

I'd love for you to expand on this.

In terms of slang lit, yes. There isn't anything I would add, just updating/replacing things that are becoming dated. The guy who built the place went all out. Only things left to do though are the bathrooms and some laminate floors. Not touching the slate areas.

In terms of lighting lit, 131 downlights inside the house. I know this because I replaced all the damn fittings with gu10's and led's.

 

[Steamy Tom]

I'd love for you to expand on this.

In terms of slang lit, yes. There isn't anything I would add, just updating/replacing things that are becoming dated. The guy who built the place went all out. Only things left to do though are the bathrooms and some laminate floors. Not touching the slate areas.

In terms of lighting lit, 131 downlights inside the house. I know this because I replaced all the damn fittings with gu10's and led's.

i mean it looks like it is balling xD like nice bro

 

[GrootBaas]

Do you have to use tile cement?

Fill the majority of the gap with expanding foam and skim the surface with cement or plaster

Need to drill a few holes in afterwards for plug screws, so it needs to be hard (yeah yeah I know). Using tile cement was suggested by my local Brights salesman.

Will have some time on Friday to clean out my previous attempt and approach it again.

 

[Mars]

I'm trying to heat multiple rooms... being an open place house, from kitchen to bedroom's.

RED is the room where the fireplace goes - see corner top right of room.

View attachment 846833

The biggest issue with your placement is that you are losing heat because its on an outside wall.

If you can put it against the internal wall its worth paying extra on the flue and so on. The other option if you have a ceiling is to put ducting in to move air from the fireplace to the colder rooms.
I was chatting to a salesman at one of the fireplace companies and he was saying something like simply putting the ducting from above the fireplace to the colder rooms can passively move the warm air to the colder rooms, but I think even a simple bathroom extractor somewhere along the duct would move enough air to heat the rooms nicely.

As you have it I dont think you're going to get much heat into those other rooms without some kind of help.

Another thing I saw at the hydrofire showroom in paarden eiland was a radiator system on one of their fireplaces. It looked awesome, but I think its going to cost you.