Archive for the ‘Extras’ Category

Fireplace Reunites Lovers

March 24th, 2010

We all know how the sight of a roaring real fire can add romance to any situation, but this next story, taken from the British news site, Metro, really does add fuel to the fire…

Steve Smith and Carmen Ruiz-Perez spent their first Valentine’s Day together last month after getting back together.

fireplace-romance They plan to marry in the summer.

The couple, who are both 42, first met while Spanish Ms Ruiz-Perez was a foreign student in England.

They got engaged but found that her having to regularly fly to the Paris boutique she ran proved too much and they split.

Mr Smith traced the address of his ex-girlfriend’s mother in Spain ten years ago and sent a letter but her mother left it above a fireplace and it eventually slipped behind it.

However, she recently discovered the love note and gave it to her daughter.

‘After reading it, I nearly didn’t phone him at all. I kept picking it then putting it down again,’ said Ms Ruiz-Perez. ‘But I had to call.’

Mr Smith, from Paignton, Devon, said: ‘Within two days, I had flown to Paris and we started where we had left off all those years ago.’

He added: ‘Finding each other again was fate.’  (If only he’d said finding each other was grate…).

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How to Choose the Best Fireplace Grate for Your Fireplace

October 8th, 2009

In our Fireplaces and Chimneys article, we took a gallop through the history of fireplaces, and looked at how they can help us learn about the lives of our ancient and modern ancestors. However, it is  perhaps the tools our ancestors used with their fires that tell the most informative stories. And, whether you’re interested in history or not, there are some points to take into account when accessorising your fireplace.

Fireplace tools can be subdivided into:

1. Holding tools – devices for cradling the fuel

2. Heat magnification tools – the fire back

3. Fireplace tending tools

    As you can imagine, this is a huge category and one that can only be touched upon here. We’ll start with the most fundamental of these fireplace accessories.

    Choosing a Fireplace Grate

    cast-iron-basketThe grate is the frame of metal bars that keeps the wood or coal together, thus making the fire safer and more efficient. Our ancestors also realised that grates have enormous decorative potential, especially during the summer months when there is no fire. Nevertheless, there’s more to choosing the right grate than looks alone.

    If you intend to light the fire frequently, choose a grate with thick bars. It’s common sense really, the more fires you burn, the stronger the grate must be to withstand the constant heat. Likewise, large logs will need a deeper grate than small and, if you intend to burn coal, you should find a grate that has adequate space beneath it to allow good air circulation. In fact, whatever fuel you intend to burn, generous air space beneath the fire will make it burn cleaner.

    Perhaps the most important advice is to choose the heaviest grate you can afford – really you can’t beat cast iron; the Victorians knew a thing or two!

    We’ll talk more about other fire tools next time but, in the meantime, here’s some advice for using that carefully chosen grate!

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    Brick Tile Fireplace

    September 24th, 2009

    If you are fed up with your fireplace, why not consider a makeover using brick tiles? Brick tile fireplaces look at home in any room, whether traditional or modern, and the look is very easy to achieve – any tired-looking fire surround or chimney breast may be quickly transformed by using brick fireplace tiles.

    brick-tile-fireplace Brick fireplace tiles have been available for several years and are manufactured in various ways: some are kiln-fired in the same way as standard bricks, but are only around 1”/20mm thick. Reclaimed brick tiles are cut from the face of reclaimed bricks, and these are obviously much more expensive than standard brick tiles. People living in period properties may prefer to use reclaimed brick tiles in order to make a fireplace look as authentic as possible.

    Brick fireplace tiles are available in many styles and colours, and when applied and pointed, they look just like solid brick. Brick fireplace tiles have many advantages over solid brick; they are lighter, easier to cut and simple to apply. Also, the tiles are only around 1” thick, meaning that they take up less space than standard bricks – perfect for small living spaces. Although they are very slim, brick tiles have the same surface area as a normal brick. This ensures that the tiles really do look just like normal bricks when put into place.

    Brick tiles are very versatile, and can be used in a variety of ways. As well as being used on fireplaces, they may be used as flooring in kitchens and conservatories, and are also suitable for external use, in the building of new properties or restoration projects.

    As mentioned earlier, brick fireplace tiles come in a wide range of colours, so the design possibilities are endless. The standard brick colours, in all shades of red and yellow, are very popular, and pointing compounds are available in complementing shades. Creating an attractive and unique brick tile fireplace for your home really is simple and can be completed very quickly – what are you waiting for? Tile over your tired old brick fireplace today!

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    Fireplace Tile

    September 1st, 2009

    Ceramic tiles have been used in the decoration of walls and floors for over 1000 years, but the fireplace tile was first introduced in the Georgian era – the fireplace was fully tiled, and then the fire basket laid on the tiled hearth.

    It was in the Victorian age that tiles for fireplaces became very popular. Between 1860 and 1880, ceramic tiles were placed in ‘tile sliders’ and provided a decorative frame at either side of the cast-iron fireplace – this was the sole purpose of the ceramic tile – they were purely decorative. In time, fully tiled fireplaces became popular.

    fireplace-tileFire tiles were very popular at the end of the nineteenth century, and many Victorian potters employed a large labour force to mass-produce ceramic fireplace tiles cheaply, especially in Staffordshire. A number of methods were used to decorate tiles: plain glazes were made from white lead; flint; china clay and china stone, and these were ground together to make the basic glaze – the colours were formed by adding metal oxides to this.

    Clear glaze was applied over colours to enhance and protect the tile, and also added to patterned tiles for the same reason. Some tiles were hand-painted: a design was taken from a book and pricked through onto paper, then this was in turn transferred onto the tile using charcoal and coloured in.

    Two Liverpool printers named Sadler and Green invented transfer printing, a method of decorating tiles in the Victorian era. With this method, an engraved copper plate was covered with ink, and then tissue paper was pressed onto the plate. The tissue paper was then used to transfer the pattern onto the fireplace tile. Tile-sets that formed a pattern at either side of the fireplace were very much in demand during the Edwardian era, but few of these survive today: if one was damaged, then the whole set was unusable and thus disposed of. However, there are excellent reproductions of Edwardian fire tiles widely available.

    The Art Nouveau period saw the introduction of tube-lining, a method of placing raised lines onto the fireplace tile. These raised lines formed a pattern and separated the various colours used on a tile.

    Between the two World Wars, fully tiled fireplaces came back into vogue. The dark Victorian colours of red, green and blue were replaced with tiles in all shades of beige, the fashionable colour of the time. Cream tiles were also popular, in both plain and mottled finishes.

    Today, there are many different kinds of fireplace tile, in all colours and finishes. Original antique tiles are available, but these are expensive. Excellent reproductions are available, with the best ones hand-produced according to traditional methods. In respect of tiling the modern fireplace, almost any ceramic or slate tile is suitable.

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