How am I going to get this out of the wall!? (and other rookie questions)

[LKay]

I recently bought a new house and was very happy that it had a wood burning stove in it.

Sadly, I've found that, even with a large fire the stove didn't output any real heat (it's built into the wall and I feel like all of the heat is getting trapped inside the walls).

Either way, rightly or wrongly, I have decided to take it out and fit a free standing stove.

As money is tight I'm aiming to do as much as possible by myself so while I am mainly asking for help on how to get the bloody thing out of the wall any other tips or potential pitfalls that could be offered would be greatly appreciated (including good makes or models of stoves/what to consider).

Thanks in advance!

A photo of the flue, I think once I can disconnect this I can get it out but can't work out how to do it!

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Getting it out is always the fun part. You can use lots of loud tools and bang on things. I’m convinced that choice words spoken at the right times help.

Before ripping it out though, you may want to plan the next steps in this adventure. Do you know which stove you’d like to put in? Different stoves have different requirements.

How much are you looking to tear out and rebuild? What finished look do you want?

 

[LKay]

Thanks for getting back to me, I essentially intend to remove the highlighted 'shelf', fit a hearth in and then get a smaller free standing stove to fit in the gap as is.

I don't really have much access to get to the flue at the moment, the stove essentially fills the whole gap. Am I going to have to remove part of the wall above it?

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Ok, so before going further, you’ll want to find a stove that can be run in an alcove. Many are not listed for that and you may not have the required clearances. You may end up opening that space up much more than you were originally planning on.

 

[begreen]

This setup may not be safe for a freestanding stove. When a stove is put in a tight alcove like this, the entire area must be completely non-combustible, like going into an existing masonry fireplace. The wood floor below the "shelf" say this is not.

Before proceeding, it's important to know the construction of the sides, back, and ceiling of this space firts, before installing a stove there. The best thing would be to have a HETAS certified installer come out and check it.

 

[LKay]

A very good point regarding the size of stove (and one I definitely wouldn't have thought of!).

Regarding the space, there currently seems to be brick>plasterboard>plaster on the walls. If I strip back the plasterboard and install fire rated plasterboard and plaster would that be ok?

The floor is wooden but I intend to fit a stone hearth, would this suffice?

 

[LKay]

Or I could just strip the wallls back to brick and leave it like that.

 

[begreen]

I don't know about the UK, but here, that would not be allowed. Check local regulations.

 

[LKay]

Don't think there's much I can do until I actually take the stove out of the wall so I can get a proper look at it, is there some sort of trick to this or am I just going to have to brute force it?