ladybugg1629

Hello all, first time posting here

We have a monstrous mantle surrounding the gas fireplace in our house (was here when we bought it). I've never seen anything like it; it's 5 feet high, 6.5 feet wide and almost 3 feet deep! (the insert itself is only 2ft 6in feet high x 3ft 2in wide)

Needless to say, it takes up way too much space in the room and I would like to know how I would go about removing it, moving the fireplace back to the wall and putting a more 'normal' mantle around it?

Thanks!

Arbutus

This may not be really helpful, but here it goes. You have to find out how it is attached to the wall and how the pieces are attached to each other. Look for nail holes, screw holes, plugs, etc. Remove any screws and carefully drill out any plugs (you don't want to damage the head of the screw while doing this). Try going along the wall with a small thin pry bar and levering it out to see how well it is attached and how.

If you can get it 1/4" from the wall, getting in the gap with a reciprocating saw and cutting any fasteners with a bi-metal blade will loosen it and maybe even remove it completely.

Keep in mind that the person who put it in might not have intended it to come out. You may have to destroy it and damage the wall to remove it.

Good Luck.

joecaption

With out a picture it's near impossible to do anything but guess on this one.

ladybugg1629

Here are a couple of pictures; one of the front and one of the side:

joecaption

It would have looked fine it they would have laid it out differant and not have been so simplistic when building it. A flat bar and a hammer and it should all come off but have a plan on what you want to replace it with before starting because there's going to be some wall damage.
This a picture of one we buiult for about $100.00 worth of materials. Everthing was primed and sealed before cutting anything and only took about 1-1/2 hours to build. Cabinet grade plywood, 1 X 4's of clear pine, a piece of crown moulding, cap moulding and for the top we used plywood with a a piece of untreated lattice on the edges to make it look thicker.
Without a hearth it also looks odd.

oldognewtrick

Joe, thats a nice looking surround, but the problem the op has is the firebox is not set in the wall. It looks like the box was just set against the wall and a surround created, thus it sets in the room and takes up a lot of otherwise usable space.

nealtw

Is this a gas fireplace venting out the wall?

ladybugg1629

That's exactly the issue...I would love to have something similar to Joe's picture, that's lovely!

Yes, it is.

nealtw

The box was built deep so the old big tv would sit on top of it. The insert should fit in a box that is only 18" deep. The place to start is disconnect the gas and thermastat. I would talk to people in your area that sell inserts, they will put you intouch with a gas fitter and give you ideas on what to build. when your done you just tile the floor infront like a harth.

ladybugg1629

Thanks - that gives me a starting point - to talk to a gas fitter....before I start ripping the thing apart!

I can't imagine putting a tv up there - I think you'd have a sore neck in short order - not to mention that this thing takes up so much room that you can't really fit a couch in here!

Thanks everyone for all the replies - great forum here!