Ok So I am refitting a Victorian fireplace and have read that the fireback
should be backfilled with a vermiculite mix (Sand cement and Vermiculite).
My Local Builders merchants don't stock Vermiculite but I have seen it in
Garden centres , Is this the same stuff?
Does it matter?
Should I just fill up the gap with old rubble as one web page suggests ?

Any advice

Many thanks
Graeme

[news] wrote:

> Graeme wrote:
>
>>Ok So I am refitting a Victorian fireplace and have read that the fireback
>>should be backfilled with a vermiculite mix (Sand cement and Vermiculite).
>>My Local Builders merchants don't stock Vermiculite but I have seen it in
>>Garden centres , Is this the same stuff?
>
>
> yes
>
>
>>Does it matter?
>
>
> I think so.
>
>
>>Should I just fill up the gap with old rubble as one web page suggests ?
>
>
> you could. some people put some corrugated cardboard behind the fireback
> with a view to it burning away and leaving enough expansion gap to prevent
> the fireback cracking (hmmm, right) then backfill with rubble.
>
> I filled the void behind my fireback with plain vermiculite scrounged from
> discarded packing material at partners place of work. I made a slurry of
> cement and vermiculite /only/ for the flaunching/sloped back thingy. when
> used and it's covered in soot it looks ok, hasn't cracked, very inexpensive.
>
>
My fireback cracked anyway, even though it was just propped against the
back of the inglenook.

>
> RT
>
>
>

Graeme wrote:
> Ok So I am refitting a Victorian fireplace and have read that the fireback
> should be backfilled with a vermiculite mix (Sand cement and Vermiculite).
> My Local Builders merchants don't stock Vermiculite but I have seen it in
> Garden centres , Is this the same stuff?
> Does it matter?

B&Q used to sell a high-volume ready mixed concrete mix that used
vermiculite instead of the more usual mixed aggregate. Can't find it on
the website (no surprise there then), but it was only a couple of year
back when I bought a bag of the stuff.

Cheers
Clive

Graeme wrote:

> Ok So I am refitting a Victorian fireplace and have read that the fireback
> should be backfilled with a vermiculite mix (Sand cement and Vermiculite).

Don't add sand. Just use a 1:6 (by volume!) mix of OP cement and
vermiculite with an absolute minimum of water - just enough to get a
workable grey gooey mass. Well that's what I did when I put my Baxi
Burnall in a few years ago and it's been fine. I didn't use any
cardboard - the weak vermiculite mix will allow a bit of movement. The
cardboard backing is advised if you use the option of a more solid sand,
cement and rubble infill.

--
Andy

In article <(E-Mail Removed)>,
"Graeme" <(E-Mail Removed)> writes:
> Ok So I am refitting a Victorian fireplace and have read that the fireback
> should be backfilled with a vermiculite mix (Sand cement and Vermiculite).
> My Local Builders merchants don't stock Vermiculite but I have seen it in
> Garden centres , Is this the same stuff?

I bought a sack of it from Travis Perkins. Their computer said they
had 3 sacks, but it took half the staff searching the yard for about
15 minutes before they could find it. Their computer told them they
hadn't sold any in the previous 12 months, and no one (including me)
had any idea what a sack of it looked like.

I used it as a layer of insulation under the sand and cement base
for a fireplace (a sheet of expanded polystyrene seemed like a
distincly bad idea;-)

--
Andrew Gabriel

Vermiculite is commonly used to insulate chimney flue liners.
Try your local chimney company.

"Tony Bryer" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> In article <(E-Mail Removed). com>, Alan
> wrote:
>> Vermiculite is commonly used to insulate chimney flue liners.
>
> Sold as Micafil
>
> --
> Tony Bryer SDA UK 'Software to build on' http://www.sda.co.uk
> Free SEDBUK boiler database browser http://www.sda.co.uk/qsedbuk.htm
>
>
Thanks for all the advice.

I have found Vermiculite,
10 Litre bags in B&Q about 4.50.

Then a web serch found various sites selling 100L bags about 17.00 +
Delivery (Mostly used for growing things indoors under lights without the
aid of soil. Some of the sites offered '100% Confidential service'), Also a
discusion on the magicmushroomforum.

Then a phone call to a local Chimney company who gave me a name of a local
company that do a 100L bag for 8.80 + Vat, and they have a trade counter and
I can collect.

Result !!

Graeme.