I am enlarging a fireplace and will need a bigger throat-supporting lintel than usually available. Can someone tell me whether this can be made using mouldable firebrick (not firebrick mortar) inside of a timber form, and if so, what's the best way to dry the material prior to exposing to full heat.
Without being quite clear about the geometry, do you really need firebrick properties here? And what sort of load is it supporting? When I reinstated an inglenook by removing georgian *and* edwardian structures, I took out an arch about two feet wide made from 2 inch x
1/4 inch steel strip which was supporting the brick outer throat.
By its nature, a lintel will normally have tensile stresses on the bottom face. Firebrick isn't good in tension.
newshound wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@brightview.co.uk:
My mistake - I should have said "throat-forming lintel" rather than "throat-supporting". It will hardly be supporting any load at all. There is a concrete lintel in the wall about 15cm above it, and I think there is a steel arch directly above where it will go. (I'm not at the house and can't check.) The idea is to have it the same shape as one of these, but wider:
The fireplace will be 24" wide and 12" deep; unless I change my mind, I'm not taking it right back to the builder's opening.
"harryagain" wrote in news:l39ead$etc$ snipped-for-privacy@dont-email.me:
Thanks for this. The same manufacturer also makes mouldable firebrick. Are you saying the mixable stuff would be better, if I'm going to put it in a form? That may sound like a silly question, but I've not worked with either material!
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