kennyp2339
Minister of Fire
Your hearth area should be solid brick that is tied back into the main fireplace, the part that was knocked out looks like it was made for the liner, but without physically being there to see and measure I couldn't tell you whether it was safe or not, more than likely its safe since the liner is center downSo if you know what the construction is and you know how to remove the bricks without changing the R value then you can alter the fireplace, because the guys who installed my liner jackhammered a few bricks to install it.
I also wonder how you can tell if the brickwork has wood studs behind it, like my hearth, is that solid bricks or bricks over framing.
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