[SeattleJD]

Greetings from Seattle. First timer here, thanks in advance for advice.

About a year ago we bought this 1927 Tudor. In the living room there is a faux fireplace where there was a still working electric faux firelogs. We have since removed the insert, but now need to deal with this fireplace. There is no flue/vent. It's hollow inside, see the pictures attached.

How can we best remove this odd thing without damaging the plaster it connects with? (I realize until we get move of the fireplace out of the way it will be hard to say how this is even connected. obviously there will be will surface issues, but would like to not create new cracks in this room from the demo of this project, though)

Not terribly handy around the house but tempted to take a miter saw right through this as it sure make quick work of some of the plaster walls when we demo'd the bathroom.

The wood lid comes right off the fireplace so there are two pics I just took looking down inside. Thanks everyone.

 

[joecaption]

Looks like you may be opening up a can of worms by removing it.
Looks like they ran the hardwood flooring around it, not under it.

 

[ZTMAN]

As Joe says, big can of worms. Plaster, flooring , base molding. Maybe replace with a built in book case if you dont like the fireplace.

 

[WhatRnsdownhill]

just rip it out, hammer and crow bar..you will learn how to fix plaster and flooring ...the wall to the right of that by the outlet is all cracked and needs repair any ways..once ripped out you can patch the wall with sheet rock and give a skim coat of mud over it and paint...there is no easy way to handle this unless you want to just write a check to a contractor...thats part of the fun owning your house..learn as you go..

 

[SeattleJD]

Darn, I should have used a more recent photo.

We have had a couple rooms replastered/yellow jacketed, and the guy did patch that area to the right you are referring to. So we now have a nice and painted wall.

Yes we thought about the flooring issue but as you already thought of, we plan to have custom built in shelving there and a place to mount the TV. So the floor has been accounted for. Our friend does custom pieces with reclaimed wood and has told us this location won't be a problem, we just need to get rid of this fireplace.

But what I'm hearing is "don't overthink it, just tear it out". I was hoping there would be a "least impact possible" way to demo it rather than hammer and crowbar. And with my limited knowledge of what tools are out there for specific jobs I thought I'd ask.

Some have suggested in the past we get a fireplace insert and make this thing usable, but in the end we still find the finish and details just ugly and would rather convert it. I guess I could be convinced otherwise.

 

[WhatRnsdownhill]

your over thinking it...just rip into it and it will be gone in no time, once gone fixing the wall wont be a big issue, you can even have the guy building the bookcase use an enclosed back so you wont even see the wall...