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Dave NE
Joined: 08 Sep 2010 Posts: 18
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Lorrainelovesplants
Joined: 13 Oct 2006 Posts: 6521 Location: Dordogne
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County4x4
Joined: 18 Dec 2008 Posts: 80 Location: Carnforth, Lancashire
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Mithril
Joined: 22 Jul 2011 Posts: 1755 Location: wessex
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chicken feed
Joined: 27 Aug 2009 Posts: 2677
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County4x4
Joined: 18 Dec 2008 Posts: 80 Location: Carnforth, Lancashire
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Posted: Fri Aug 26, 11 8:29 pm Post subject: |
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Sweeps not returning calls is not at all uncommon unfortunately - I always make sure our answerphone is cleared before bed time and a lot of people sound really grateful that you've bothered to phone them back!! Can't figure out why people advertise and then don't return calls - but there you go!
As far as chimney lining goes - many stove installers will not fit a stove to an unlined chimney. There is a common misconception that this is a case of the installer trying to screw more money out of the job. In many cases, it's the installer covering their back against the custy phoning up two years down the line and saying they have tarry stains and smells in their upstairs bedrooms - and what's the installer going to do about it!
There is a far smaller amount of draught going up a chimney from a stove than from an open fire - which will chuck multiple roomfulls of gas out the chimney pot every hour. You may have noticed that smoke from a chimney serving a stove looks very "lazy" as opposed to an open fire which may well look like a steam train chimney. Because there's a lot less draught, and less heat in the upper reaches of the flue, smoke from the stove - particularly if burning wood at less than optimum moisture - can easily condense inside the chimney, and the condensates can gradually eat their way through the mortar joints until they get to the inside of your bedroom.
So - if you're having a stove in that particular flueway - a liner is the best way to go, even if you have a "perfectly good chimney that's been in use for the past 80 years without any problems" or whatever. If you're keeping the open fire, providing the flue is in good condition, a liner is not so necessary. The gas tightness can be tested with smoke pellets. A proper test is NOT lighting a pellet in the fireplace and watching the smoke come out the pot - all that demonstrates is a draught - though it may show up any major leakage points. A proper test involves sealing the bottom and top of the chimney once the smoke pellet is burning - the smoke then pressurises the flue slightly and shows any leaks. There is also a more expensive test where everything is sealed up and then a pump pressurises the flue - and any pressure drop over a period of time is recorded digitally. The machine then issues a pass or fail result.
I'd always recommend using a proper sweep - though it has to be said that going for one having a certificate or two does not necessarily mean you'll get a good job or good advice for that matter. I've followed one local HETAS registered big company onto four or five jobs in the past year, and some of the advice they've dished out has been frightening. They've also condemned a liner less than three months old as being breached - when it was nothing of the sort. The neighbour had a great big hole directly into the flue at the back of his airing cupboard - which was where the chimney smell was coming from - NOT from my custys brand new liner! Big company never even spotted that. They would have been very happy to come out the following week and charge him £700 to replace it though! They also swept my custys chimney and knocked two holes in his wall to inspect the liner before condemning it - £120 please. I swept it three days later and got what I'd consider a normal amount of soot for a years burning out of it - my customer was not very impressed with the service they'd given to say the least! I also did a proper smoke test - they'd just draught tested it - not a whiff of smoke anywhere. Been back to him today as it happens to fit a pot and I'll be going back again come burning season.
Hope that helps a bit!
Cheers,
Andy |
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Mithril
Joined: 22 Jul 2011 Posts: 1755 Location: wessex
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Green Man
Joined: 23 Jul 2006 Posts: 5272 Location: Rural Scotland.
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gz
Joined: 23 Jan 2009 Posts: 8576 Location: Ayrshire, Scotland
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Monki magic
Joined: 21 Jun 2010 Posts: 161 Location: Stockport
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MikeM
Joined: 20 Oct 2010 Posts: 76 Location: Devon
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Mutton
Joined: 09 May 2009 Posts: 1508
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12Bore
Joined: 15 Jun 2008 Posts: 9089 Location: Paddling in the Mersey
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sean Downsizer Moderator
Joined: 28 Oct 2004 Posts: 42207 Location: North Devon
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Bulgarianlily
Joined: 01 Jun 2008 Posts: 1667 Location: South West Mountains of Bulgaria
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