UKC

Thoughts from the ukc collective please:

we've moved a solid fuel burner to another room in the house. house is 120 years old, two floors stone built property. there is a fireplace which had a gas fire in it which we never used. do we need to get the flue lined for its new role? is it an automatic 'yes, of course, you are risking your life if you don't', or its is a 'depends'- if so, what do we need to look out for in deciding if we do need one?

thanks for any advice folks!

gregor

In reply to no_more_scotch_eggs:

Pull a liner in, it's easy.
I did mine 3 years ago.

I got all the gear from these lot, http://www.flue-liner.com
Appeared to be the cheapest at the time.

In reply to no_more_scotch_eggs:
Your fire will be more efficient if you do (even more so if you insulate it too)and you almost eliminate the possibility of CO leaking into your room.

Edit:

If you live in a high terrace with a flue that's not straight, you'd be wise to pay someone professional to do it. If you live in the Cheshire area (Northwich, chester etc), I can recommend a mate of mine who is a HETAS installer.

In reply to no_more_scotch_eggs:

Old chimneys left unused for a long time get leakier where they might have been smoketight if they'd been in continuous use. I would strongly recommend lining it, either professionally or doing it yourself - if you have any intention of selling the house in the long term, get it done professionally and get all the paperwork. This isn't a legal requirement like it would be for a gas fire, but it takes any future liability away from you if there is a leak.

In reply to no_more_scotch_eggs: Depends, I used to work installing wood burners. You'd need to get the chimney swept, as the soot could be plugging cracks. Light one of these

http://www.transtools.co.uk/hand-tools/plumbing-tools/smoke-testers-and-tra...

in the hearth, and block the top of the chimney with something (an inflated latex glove does the trick well) then get yourself into any areas the chimney runs through, loft spaces etc and check that it doesn't look like you are heralding the arrival of a new Pope in unwelcome areas. Like it has been said above, you are probably better off paying someone to do it for maximum cover your arse effect.

In reply to no_more_scotch_eggs:
If you do go down the self install route, it is easy. Just make sure all your connections are well sealed with fireproof cement to prevent leaks. Top tip when putting the liner in - drop a hammer (gently!) down the chimney with rope attached, drill a hole in the liner and tie the other end of the rope to it and pull the liner down from the hearth with a willing body on the roof guiding the liner in straight so it doesn't rub too much.

In reply to no_more_scotch_eggs:

As noted before if the chimney is tall, or has kinks in it better to get someone in rather than DIY. We got a firm in to rebuild the hearth and fire place, line chimney, fit stove and smoke test.

Thought we were being fleeced, and we would have been, except they couldn't get the liner down past a kink. Next day they had to break into the chimney..........we had agreed 'Fixed fee', at the start which was too expensive, but on the basis of the addition of a make all damage good, and no additional charges I.e they took the risk. Extra day's work, plus Plaster and painter was the at thier expense......

Could easily have been the other way, and them trousering more profit, and us feeling stupid.

In reply to higherclimbingwales:



Yep, i'll second this I wrestled with 13 metres of flue pipe single handed on the roof with my daughter pulling from the fireplace below. We got it down eventually but not without modifying the dummy we had in the end of the pipe so it would go round the corners better. We insulated round ours with vermiculite and it definitely made a difference compared to the uninsulated one in our old house.

In reply to no_more_scotch_eggs:

ok thanks for the contributions everyone. chimney is way too high for me to get to, and we are having scaffolding up for other work on roof anyway, so i think we'll go ahead and get it done on a professional basis

cheers
gregor

In reply to jonathan shepherd:


Do this, it should extend the life of the flue.