What is my fire surround made of?

[paul.mullan]

I have been stripping paint off of a fire surround in my bedroom that I thought was hardwood. However having taken the paint back on part of the surround I have found out that it is not wood but some sort of stone or concrete. How would I go about finding out if it is sandstone, limestone or concrete etc.? I have never worked with stone before so not sure how to identify different types.

I am not sure what to do from here. I would like to strip the paint back and reveal the stonework. Who would be the right tradesman to contact for this? A stonemason?

Apologies if these questions seem very simplistic, but I suppose any question seems simplistic if you know the answer!!!!

Thanks for your time

[George]

How olds the house is a good starter? and do you thin its an original feature of the house?

[auctions]

Ask the neighbours! If there are a few similar houses built at the same time, and the fireplace is original, someone may have one where it's easier to identify.

A

[paul.mullan]

The block was built in 1900 and I am sure it is an original feature.

Good idea about the neighbours. Tried but most of the blocks around me are newly converted with new fittings, no one seems to have an original that is not wood.

Thanks for your time & help - any further pointers much appreciated!!

Paul

[George]

Your guttering,whats it made of if it the original guttering? usually the fire place will be same material as that of the guttering at that time mainly because it was cheaper to use materials locally.

for instance in this house the fireplace before it got taken out was made of sandstone ie the guttering was that of block sandstone mounted on the top brickwork in which the guttering was carved into the sandstone.

See if you can scrape the material easily in an area it wont be seen,if it scrapes easily it could be sandstone and will be browny red in colour? if you cant scrape it it could be stone?

Materials were usally gotton from local quarries as I said above because transporting would have made it more costly.