repairing cleaning Bathstone fireplace

[Martin Carroll]

In the house I am renovating there are some quite nice Bath stone fireplaces. They are in need of some tlc and I was wondering what the best method was of cleaning them up. The stone is pretty soft so a hard wire brush is out.

There are a few chips in the edges so It might be an idea to try and chamfer them. Is this an easy job to do, what is the best tool for the job.

One of the fireplaces did have a back boiler and there is a quite large crater in the side wall where the pipes entered, is there any way of filling this hole sympathetically?

Cheers

Martin

[Andy Dingley]

Is the surface of the stone dressed (ashlar) or rough ? If it's rough, then use a long bristled phosphor bronze wire brush (looks like a paintbrush, Axminster sell them). Wrap masking tape around it to stiffen (i.e. shorten) the bristles, if needed.

For dressed Bath stone, then a Plasplugs mesh tile file (any B&Q) or coarse silicon carbide wet and dry paper stuck to a hard backing board (plywood with 3mm polyethylene floor underlay foam).

Tile file - a rigid carbide grit covered one (Plasplugs from the B&Q tiling shelf again)

Smooth the hole round, then fill it with a turned stone bung. This is easier if you live around Bath though (how big is it?)

You can saw this in two halves, if you need to fit over a pipe. "Turning" is just a matter of unpowered centers to support it and the tile file (or maybe an abrasive disk) used as a toolpost grinder.