crumbling fire back

C

charlie01

Registered User
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13
hi,
my fire back is starting to crumble. the house is less than 3 years old.
has anyone any ideas on what can be done besides replacing it or is it homebond guaranteed by the builder?? long shot i know.

many thanks
 
they're about 30-40 quid to buy. Probably the builder put in the cheapest of the cheap. Hardly worth trying to claim on the guarantee.
 
You can get fire cement and patch it up. Dono how well it'd work though,, worth a shot before you start ripping anyhting out
 
Is it one of the ribbed back types that are supposed to throw more heat into the room rather than up the chimney?
 
its just the standard and cheapest one i would imagine. would i have to take the fire surround out to replace the back or is it possible to do it without moving the surround?
 
charlie01 said:
its just the standard and cheapest one i would imagine. would i have to take the fire surround out to replace the back or is it possible to do it without moving the surround?
Click to expand...

You should be able to replace without moving the surround, as they usually come in 3 pieces - the back and two cheeks.
 
charlie01 said:
My fire back is starting to crumble. The house is less than 3 years old.
Click to expand...

Hi Charlie,

What do you burn in your fire? Some cheap and nasty smokeless fuel mixes contain pertoleum coke which burns at a very high temperature thus destroying fire backs and grates.

aj
 
here is the correct and best of firebacks easy to fit for DIY people its in two halves makes it so much easier,when filling the space behind fireback make it very weak sand/ cement about 7 sand to 1 cement put in semi dry do it will not crack,top off round the top of the back with 4/1 mix
 
thanks for all the help. i just burn coal.
also its a fair small ope - 10" at the back for the existing one. are they possible to be in 2 halves?
 
Even better if you fill the back of the fireback/chairbrick with a semi dry 5 to 1 mix of sand and lime. This mix is much better at taking the high conducted temperatures and will prolong the life of the fireback. The two peice fireback is also less prone to cracking as it has an expansion joint(two peices) built in.
 
a hardware store told me that the 2 piece fireback would not be a good as a single piece. would this be correct?
 
In my experience the two peice lasts longer, especially if you fill the back with a proper sand/lime mix. Be carefull taking advice from "experts" in hardware stores.
 
slightly different version of the op question but if the back was badly cracked, would there be much heat loss?
 
Most definetly if the fireback is not built in and insulated with a proper filling ingredient.
 
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