How to remove a fireplace?

Hi guys, I've got this white marble fireplace and I'd like to take it down. I've been told that they're fixed to the wall left and right about 10cm from the top. So I've got to hammer into the plaster to find the fixings. Is that the right way to go about this?

Petal - we have a marble fireplace that we would like to remove and have had conflicting reports on how to take it down. It really depends on the type of fireplace from what I can gather. Most do seem to be attached using a screw system as you describe. I'm sure you could work out if this is the case in your instance by using a magnet and seeing if you get any sort of pull at the fixing points. Then it is a case of digging out the plaster to get to the screws.

I think ours is either solid marble or marble around concrete. In any case it looks firmly attached to the wall and we're likely to cause a real mess if we take it down. We're going to wait until we decide exactly what to do with it.

Just for safety sake if it is a gas fire ensure you get it disconnected from the gas supply before you go at it, we've been advised to do this by everyone we have spoken to.

Many thanks, I'll keep you posted on how I'm getting on!

I think your approach is right but your probably going to need a plasterer in after your done anyway. Watch out for the weight of the marble and protect your floor and siiting room well. Don't underestimate the amount of dust that will be kicked up. Depending on what's behind the marble and how much concrete there is you may need a kango to remove the stuff. We had our fireplace replaced and paid for the whole thing including removal - I have zero diy experience and I would safely say I would take it out myself - but possibly beware of gas or back boilers and if very old perhaps even asbestos.

Post up what your planning on doing with the remaining gaping hole and the options on how to proceed might change.

Good luck,
MAJJ

Thanks for all the advice. I had a go at it last night, I've more or less chiseled a 1 cm gap around the whole fireplace and I found the two fixings to the wall. I do have a baxi firesystem, so next I have to ring the gaspeople to disconnect the whole thing and then I can take it out. Some plastering will be needed, as we will replace it with a more modern gasfirefront, but I'll do that myself, been plastering over stippled walls for the last while... Not too worried about dust or anything, just bought the house and it's a building site more than anything else!
Again I'll keep you posted.

I'll be interested to hear what you do. I wanted to go at ours with some brute force (gets the aggression out) but my better half wouldn't let me near it.

One day it'll be mine though