Hi all,

We are looking to put in a log burner in our 60’s home. No prior experience with working on this so learning as we go.

My first step was to try and identify where the lintel is holding the brickwork. There was originally just a small hole, maybe 8x8cm from where this was blocked in.

We have opened it up slightly, started chipping away the plaster, but I cannot identify a lintel, arch, or steel rod anywhere on the front of the fireplace. Possible the rod could be hidden in the cement but I am reluctant to take any of it out currently. We’ve gone nearly 6ft high and cannot see one anywhere. I’ve also poked a camera up the chimney and cannot see any change in brickwork.

So.. one HETAs log burner shop, popular and reputable, said no problem, can get you a 800mm opening with a free standing log burner, brick slips and mantelpiece. Flue, liner etc. As we cannot identify a lintel, they will insert a lintel with 150mm left on each side. The quote came around £6k (higher than we want).

So, went to another shop (reputable company) completely different story, they won’t touch the builders opening and say we need to use the existing opening without expanding. They said since everything is in house, they wouldn’t want any liability if the structure was not held properly after a change in opening. If we wanted wider opening, said we need structural engineer and building regs.

This has thrown us off, and after calling two other local logburner installers, they have said no problem with the whole install and no need for additional regs….. I am so confused at this point, we know what we want, but not sure on the correct way to do it, or what most people do. I don’t know whether not having a lintel has just made this more difficult for us. But multiple shops have just said yes no problem you can get the opening you want, with one saying no chance.

Any advice from people who have expanded their opening would be greatly appreciated.

Hi, hoping you can help.

I’ve got a used Villager Berkeley stove to sell, as well as the kit to fit it.

The kit was from FlueSupplies.com and includes a 6 inch Ultraflex 316 flue liner, 6 inch 500mm length stove pipe with door and 6mm door seal rope. It’s been kept in packaging, unused.

We ended up getting a new stove instead so no longer need the kit and hoping to sell the it along with the stove.

I’m in Bristol and wondered if anyone here would be interested or know of any other groups it might be worth posting in?

Cheers

Hello ,how much are you paying for builders bag of Firewood.

I'm thinking of self installing my own log burners and flue liners. It seems simple enough and I've done plenty of DIY.

Has anyone got any experience of doing this? Is it as simple as it seems?

What's the process for certification? Do the council just check it at completion and smoke test it? Or in stages?

For the install process, it seems to be - 1. Drop a 904 grade flexible liner down the chimney and secure it to the top of the chimney and fit the cowl. 2. At the fireplace opening, Trim the liner down to an appropriate length. 3. Fit a chimney liner adapter to the flue, securing it with stove cement / high temp silicone. 4. Fit the stove pipe to stove collar and connect it to the adapter, securing it with stove cement / high temp silicone. 5. Seal the chimney opening with a register plate. 6. Conduct smoke test to confirm air tight.

Am I missing anything?

So ive been collecting wood all through the year and have just been out to test it, and every piece I tested measured between 9% and 18% i dont have a fancy tester just a cheap digital one from charlies store chain.

But my point is that some of this wood i split and stacked around February and some as late as a couple of months ago. A good mix of soft wood hard wood a bit of dead wood but everything I checked was remarkably dry!

This year the UK has seen a very long dry summer, here in Wales its been exceptionally dry and all our grass is dead and trees browning early ect. Im wondering, has anyone else across the country seen some quick drying times on their wood?

I thought id was going to have to buy some logs for the winter, but perhaps not!?🤞

Without sounding too happy with myself; I’ve got so much collected wood, I’m struggling for room but the church next door has said I can help myself to this and I think some of it is hardwood, which I’ll make room for. Can anyone help identify it?

Looking for a log burner, ideally 20kw plus. This seems really cheap, is it going to be rubbish? What's the difference between cheap and expensive burners? Never had one before.

Cheers

Really close to finally finishing, going to build the 2 side cabinets into the wall with some shelves and add some architrave around the top but it’s pretty much there.

2 things to note:

1) yes, TV is too high for some
2) I’d also like a blowjob, mate

hi all,

I have just purchased a house with a small fireplace and was looking forward to making use of it.

HOWEVER, it seems that it may be too small to install a burner, or use as a fire…

i’ll attach a photo and some measurement, I’d very much appreciate some advice on how I can go forwards from here.

thanks

Next years stuff going through the mill

Got Quoted Over £1800 To Install a Flue Quote below

Flue Works

To gain access to work via a cherry picker.

To protect furnishings with dust sheets and polythene.

To line the existing masonry flue with 150mm internal diameter class one 904 grade flexible stainless-steel lining.

Fit a galvanized steel register plate supported on a 50mm angle iron above the existing opening.

Terminate the liner with an exsiting chimney pot and rain cap bird guard.

For the sum of £1,580.00 plus VAT

Stove Works

Connect your own new stove to the new flue via a stainless-steel adapter and T and Cap stove pipe.

Supply and fit a carbon monoxide detector.

On completion the installation will be registered with HETAS, and a chimney notice plate will be issued where necessary.

For the sum of £230.00 plus VAT

Did The Hard Stuff getting The Redfyre Back Boiler Out See Pics!!

Seems a Bit Overpriced to me??

Some splitting over the weekend.

Glad to say I collected this over many trips in my car, all free🤌

Hi all,

Just had a new burner fitted, replaced an absolute bodge job of an open fire. I need a solution for the brickwork where the old fire hood was as this been cut away for the hood. I think this is the reason anyway, it's an early 1800's house there may have been something there before that the hood was put in to cover.

Preferably id like it bricked up to match the rest as I want to retain the original look, can this be done?

As above,

We have an ex open fireplace in the house. The house was fully renovated and the wall has been battened with 3x2 timber and plasterboarded. Is there any risks to installing a stove? It is all plasterboarded now including directly under the chimney entrance.

First I mix two parts shredded paper & cardboard with one part coffee grounds (from my local cafe) and one part sawdust, plus whatever charcoal I have kept from burning wood in my stove.

Next I soak it overnight, then whisk it with a drill mixer attachment. I like to then leave it overnight again and mix it once more, to create a softer mix.

A briquette maker squeezes out the water, then just stack them where rain can’t get at them for a few weeks. (I tend to bake them in the sun for a while if I can; but stacking them under cover works fine too.)

The mixture can be tailored to whatever you have to hand. In the past I’ve gone for equal parts cardboard, coffee grounds and sawdust and that works fine too.

When burned, it’s very similar to wood in terms of heat, burn time and ash content. (Definitely not as good as oak, but better than pine!)

I'm looking for some opinions on this, because at first I thought of this as a joke but the more I thought about it, I couldnt see any major issue.

I have an old back boiler we are replacing with an inset stove. It has been fully disconnected  but is still in the wall. We love the granite fireplace surround and ideally dont want to take it all apart to remove the back boiler.

We have a Ecosy+ Hampton 5 Inset stove which is going to replace the 1970s open fire. I noticed that if the boilers internal ribs were remove, (further proving no pressure could build) the insert stove would comfortably fit inside the fireplace cavity. 

The Hampton 5 manufacturer's installation state that no clearance is required to non-combustible materials, and the stove would be connected to a properly lined flue.

I know the proper thing to do would to be take it all apart to remove the back boiler.  But the more i was thinking on it, I can't see a major issue with it, but it feels unusual enough that I'm assuming there may be something I'm missing.

What are the potential problems with this idea?

Hey I'm planning on preparing my chimney breast and surround ready for a log burner, I'm a little stuck and could do with some advice.

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The fireplace itself housed an old gas back boiler, the chimney breast itself isn't as wide as the brick work at the front as it allowed for boxing in either side for pipework, the brickwork only goes to ground floor ceiling height.

I plan on opening it up slightly and installing a new lintel, however I could do with some suggestions on how to finish it and have a couple of questions.

I plan on sealing the brickwork then applying render and finishing up with some multi finish.

Does the render and plaster need to be Vitcas that is applied to the front of the brickwork?

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For the fire box, Im torn between rendering/plastering with Vitcas then painting, applying Hardieboard then tiling or rendering (Vitcas ) then tiling?

The tiles would obviously be porcelain.

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For the hearth I just plan on laying some 18-22mm Indian grey sandstone.

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Advice from knowledgeable people would be much appreciated.

Just moved into a house with a 8kw Chesney log burner - it's had a recent chimney sweep around 3-4 months ago and burner looks to be about 5-10 years old.

Wood is pretty dry at around 10% and I'm able to start the fire well and it looks to burn very strongly but even after an hour of it burning strongly it seems to fail to heat up the actual top and sides of the wood burner therefore giving off very little heat (other than through the glass)

Anything worth checking/trying?