Fireplace nightmares - old boiler wiring and removal of brass surround.

[knatch]

Hello everyone,

Two problems here. The first one is the wiring. There used to be a back boiler behind the fireplace which was removed before we moved in. The wiring for the back boiler is still there (Red, yellow and blue wires and an unshielded copper earth core all within a white outer cable). How can I take these wires and connect a normal three pin mains socket onto them such that we can plug an electric fire in?

Second problem. There are brass surrounds covering the edge of the fireplace opening. The placement of these is such that the height of the remaining hole is too short to put the fire we want in the hole. So they have to come off. But they are stuck on with some sort of very strong adhesive which we will need to remove, preferably without damaging the fake marble surround (which I have been told is actually layers of epoxy resin). Anyone know what would be a good solvent to try that wouldn't damage the fake marble?

Many, many thanks in advance for any ideas you might have on how to solve either of these problems.

knatch

[Harry Bloomfield]

knatch wrote on 10/01/2004 :-

You probably cannot.....

These will likely be only control cables, not intended to supply a heavy load, nor wired for a load such as this.

[The Natural Philosopher]

The first rule of D-I-Y isd 'when in doubt, rip it out' and that goes for the wiring, the fireplace, its surround, the lot.

Either you don't touch a thing, or you take a deep breath, and sort it properly.

The middle ground is seldom cehap, longlasting, or satisfactory.

The scond rule of D-I-Y is that , like the iceberg that sank the titanic, its not the small bit you think you can see that is the real problem. one tiny wet patch of plaster looks simple, until you realise it is symptomatic of a failed roof, and a completely wet rot ridden structure extending throughut the house...

The third rule is that it always takes twice as long and costs twice as much as adding up everything you could think of indicates, when you estimated it.

The fourth rules is that whilst any fool can take it apart, and most fools can fix it, getting it all back together the way it was is not so trivial and usually takes more time than anything else.

Start your DIY career with decoration, then making good, then plastering rendering and carpentry.

NOW you can learn plumbing and ONLY THEN are you competent to fix a dripping pipe, because you know if the last owner dind't its because the problem is burried 17 inches inside a concrete pillar covered with 15th century plaster mouldings or something, and most of it will need to be demolished before you can get to the pipe.

And rebuilt afterwards.

[Robert Irwin]

Been round to a mate's to look at a job gone wrong today then? :)

Robert