Art Deco fireplace - shall I destroy it?

[CharlieW]

I have just bought a Victorian terraced house which has two art deco style fireplaces - ceramic tiles. They are both ugly and my instinct is to remove them as they are focal points of the rooms. Before I rip them out I want to check I would not be destroying anything of value. I am also concerned how easy it will be to remove them - from what I'm reading they are probably concrete under the tiles.

Any ideas much appreciated - a picture is available on email if anyone wants to see.

Thanks! Charlie

[PatriciaH]

Have a look on e bay so you can try and compare how much they are worth 1st and if its worth your time and patience to take it out,? a piece of history may be destroyed and someone may love to own it .

[jake-the-peg]

Art Deco is getting quite fashionable but there are quite a lot of these fireplaces and people seem to want the earlier art Noveau or Victorian ones more so unless it's really special I doubt it'll be worth a lot.

Have a look here: http://www.salvo.co.uk/forsale-2.html?key=fireplace

But remember these are retail prices for Salvage not what you'd get selling to a reclaimation yard

[jake-the-peg]

Here's a better link on the same site

http://www.salvo.co.uk/forsale.html?key=deco+fireplace