Fireplace Parts Glossary
- Details
- Category: Original fireplace parts
- Published on Saturday, 01 January 2011 00:00
- Written by ftw
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Fireplace Glossary
Or Fireplace parts for dummies.
I don't want you to think I'm talking down to you or I'm being patronising, but I have been dealing with the general public about fireplace parts most of my life and it's amazing how difficult it is to get to the the point of what part they're after.
What I woulkd like:
Hello do you sell replacment fireplace parts? Yes we do.
Well I have a victorian arched fireplace that needs a 10 inch wide back flap and a set of 18" bolt on bars. Ok I'll email you some photo's of my stock.
What I get (quite often)
Hello do you sell replacment fireplace bits? Yes we do.
Well I have a fireplace that needs some bits. Ok what sort of fire is it?
A black one. Ok what type is it?
Old Fashioned. Ok what shape is it?
Knobberly, because it's carved. Oh it's a wooded surround!
No it's metal. Oh you mean it's ornately cast.
And you get the idea of how hard it can be to supply someone with the right parts they need.
This is a simple fireplace Glossary, I don't want to talk about entablatures, dentil mouldings, Palladian neoclassical and the such like, so the words we're using are the words a fireplace dealer would use and should help you to search the internet or to ring around to get your fire up and running.
There are many types of antique fireplaces but the most common are the insert and surround and the combination fireplace.
It's dead easy, the cast-iron insert is the bit that you insert into the wall, The surround is the bit that surrounds the insert. And the combination fireplace is a combination of the two and is a complete unit that doesn't need a suround.
Inserts come in different widths, normally they go up in size 2 inches at a time.For example a very small bedroom fireplace would be 12" wide next 14" then 16" and so on. A small living room fireplace would be 30"or 32" wide, while a large living room fireplace would be 36"or 38" wide, which is the largest they did, except that stately home and other prestige houses would have 40" or 42" wide fires, I don't why, I think it was just a status symbol that they got the foundry to change all the moulds for them!
Early fireplaces around 1820 to 1850s would be 34"or 36" high but most Victorian inserts are all 36 inches tall.
Fire surrounds also come in different internal widths, sometimes they would be, say 36" wide to fit around 36" wide insert, but normally they go up in size 2 inches at a time, but normally in odd numbers. If you think of a surround as a picture frame the frames the insert it will make more sense. For example a surround for a 30" by 36 inch high insert would probably be 29" wide and 35 inch high, so it would overlap the cast framework. If you look at the first photo of the arch insert you can see at the top where the surround has left a mark on the cast-iron.
