Cleaning inside inglenook fireplace

[S Burkey]

Currently redesigning the basement kitchen in a victorian terrace (4 floors) and decided to open up the inglenook primarily to deal with some damp problems in the kitchen as a whole.

Had the chimney sweep come last week and now we're trying to figure out how to clean the brickwork at the back of the inglenook. They are pretty blackened and I'd like to clean them but keep them looking 'aged'. I've got a feeling that any type of pressure washing would damage the mortar - which is looking pretty fragile.

So how would be the best way to tackle this?

We're having electrics done, replastered, floor levelled...etc etc...so any dirty work needs to be done asap really.

[This kitchen better be fantastic once its done!!!]

[The Natural Philosopher]

Blowlamp should burn the carbon off. And the tars.

Ive noted that ou new inglennoks - now nicely blackened - show tarry soot at the cooler parst, clean brick at the hotter parts, and what used to be brick but is now missing, at the really hot parts.

Yes, we got a fireback now, but that's cracked from top to bottom under the heat of log burning.

[Andy Dingley]

I'd expect to need to re-point after cleaning. A lot depends on what type and condition of brick you're dealing with. You really need to try sample areas with your cleaning technique before attacking the whole lot.

[David Hearn]

Would this also remove soot from above an inset gas fire? Our fire (used very infrequently), if turned up to the highest setting (rather than the 'miser' setting is has labelled on it) generates a large orange flame in one corner which I think the previous owners used a lot by the look of the soot markings at the back of the inset. I've often wondered how to remove this soot. (I'm aware that it shouldn't give an orange flame and that this, with soot markings is an indication of incomplete combustion and CO generation).

Thanks

David

[Michael Chare]

We have a conventional stone fireplace. It looked much better after I cleaned it with bleach and scrubbing brush.

[Chris Bacon]

An inglenook in a Victorian terrace? Can you describe it in a bit more detail? Are the bricks soft, or hard? What about the mortar, has it been re-done? What are you doing with it a=fter it's "cleaned"?

[The Natural Philosopher]

Its worth a try for sure.

Heat and oxygen will get rid of most carbon based muck one way or the other.

I have never found chemicals other than that which will.

[doozer]

There is one chemical based solution for removing carbon deposits. I can't remember what it is but it was for removing carbon / burnt food from the inside of ovens. It was pretty unpleasant stuff though.

[The Natural Philosopher]

No thats just caustic,. Woks if te carbion is biund with olynerised fats, but not the sort of coal tar and cresoste you get from a coal/wood fire.

I know, because we tried it on the sister in laws china that we pulled out of their fire destroyed house...

[S Burkey]

Well the sweep called it an inglenook but to me its just a blooming great big hole! Hmmm well its about 4ft wide by about 5ft high - I can walk into it anyway without ducking, and maybe 1.5 - 2 ft deep. Seems to be hard bricks but as I'm currently sorting out the wiring for the house in general so haven't studied it in general.

At least one house in the street has an aga in that space - we're not entirely sure what we're going to do with it to be honest at the moment.

[Chris Bacon]

Hm, you're probably best scrubbing it off as best you can and using paint or plaster, unless there's a chemical method of cleaning the bricks. To get the brick surface up to a temperature at which the soot will burn off will essentially mean re-firing them, which you won't be able to do. They'd need to be very hot indeed, which is likely to damage them. Consider sand-blasting, try glass-paper or similar, if you really want to, but I think you'll end up (unless you sand-blast, maybe even then) with a very patchy and unsightly finish. If you sit an AGA or similar in the hole it might look very good. I've got a solid-fuel Rayburn in my kitchen, and I've tiled out the hole it is in with 8x6" tiles. Gas would be better than solid, but noisy, and new ranges are expensive! Solid fuel does have something about it, though. Try e-bay for luck.

[The Natural Philosopher]

Not so. Carbon will burn at fairly low temps. Dull red. In fact it oxides at room temp but takes years to diusaapear - hundreds of years.

And you only want to get teh surface hot, not teh whole brick!

Consider sand-blasting, try glass-paper or

Soft wire brush and soapy water will do a fair bit of good if teh blowtorch diesn;t appeal.