Open fires with larger fireplace openings (usually freestanding grates) will need larger flue sizes calculated alongside the height of the chimney and required ventilation. This involves lining the chimney with flue liner – which will be similar to that installed for a wood burning stove but with a wider diameter. He says it does not crack and can be scored with a knife and snapped (I have not tried it): Your “closure” plate, that seals off your chimney if you have a chimney liner, can also be made of one of these makes of board (not to be confused with a “register plate” used when there is no liner and then must be metal). This article is not intended for the professional chimney sweep or fire and stove fitter but is intended to furnish the lay person with a basic understanding to the importance of the role a chimney and flue plays in the safe and efficient selection and use of an open fire, wood burning stove or fossil fuelled heating appliance. Article by Julian Patrick, author of The Stovefitter's Manual. OPEN FIRES, CHIMNEYS AND FLUES existing problems. More critically, combustible creosote or soot can also escape through these gaps and build up outside the chimney flue liner, which results in a significant fire hazard. Check that the liner is the correct way up, there is a small arrow approximately every one and a half meters on the outside of the liner, the arrow should be pointing up the chimney. I actually recommend NOT plastering the return as plaster can crack under high heat (I forgot to tell the plasterer this). Finished plastering. The warmth will create the draft in the fireplace and keep the fire going. Of the three vertical boards, the rear board is the one you will cut first. This picture is worth ten thousand words! Chimney fires can burn explosively and are generally noisy and dramatic enough to be detected by neighbors or passersby. Quite simply we use dri-wall adhesive (available from all good merchants). A chimney fire is more likely (far less likely if lined and would also be contained within the metal tube) if you do not fit a chimney liner. Chimney caps can … . Make a mix - 5 sand to 1 cement and integral waterproofer. Person 1 goes onto the roof while person 2 waits at the fireplace. Fit the cowl to the liner using the supplied Jubilee clip. You can use our Flue Design Service and we'll design the system for you and give you a list of the parts and costs (there's a button that takes you there at the bottom of this page). By starting the fire with pieces of wood of fast-burning wood types (poplar, pine, willow, alder, etc.) The inside layer has an overlaid coil running all the way down the inside. 5. Ideally you want one piece at the back, rather than two, but this is not always possible. These side boards will also need to stick out into the room to approx. You can tap wedges along the bottom of the vertical sheets if required. Before you start you will want to paint the surface of the inside walls of the recess and one side of the cement board with a PVA mix (3 water to 1 PVA). Note that you can use Thunderbolts instead of adhesive and we often do if the walls are flat and true. Hold a lit taper in front of the opening — a flame drawn towards it indicates a clear chimney, while a still flame is a sign that the chimney is in some way obstructed. Once the liner is down as far as it needs to go, if you are not using insulation, or if you are using linertherm, move the fixing clamp down the flexible chimney liner till it rests on the top of the chimney and supports the weight of the liner at the required height. It makes no sense to install a chimney liner against a dirty chimney and run the risk of a chimney fire. Before we get stuck in, there are various ways of making the inside of your builder’s opening look like something other than a dark, soot-stained hole in the wall. Get outside through the quickest and easiest escape route. Get the chimney liner up onto the roof. I note that you use Hardibacker in your installations (as do I) and use a 115mm diamond tipped blade to cut it. Ready to paint when the plaster has dried. Why 15mm? stone) and follow the line accurately with the jigsaw for a very neat fit. HardieBacker® 12mm cement backerboard (previously named HardieBacker®500) has been evaluated in accordance with the protocols and acceptance criteria of EN 12467 and was found to be compliant. It looks surprisingly effective and fits the architectural “honesty’ box. Do make sure the liner is matched to your new fire or stove and suitable for the fuel you will burn. Black made her much happier. 3. Alternatively, you can rub your little finger up and down the inside of the bottom of the liner. Residential Chimney Lining, Commercial and Chimney Lining for Pubs & Hotels. Preparation Before attempting to fit a chimney liner to an existing chimney, you must always sweep the chimney. Person 1 may also push a little. It’s an unfortunate fact that open fires get dirty quickly. Work the mix thoroughly, (work it more than usual - the more you do, the better and easier a job it will be). Use a spirit level to get the pot straight. Whilst installing for a living, the "smooth-lining with board was my favoured method (over rendering) and approx. HardieBacker® 12mm cement backerboard is fire rated class A1, meaning the product is non-combustible. Same fireplace. If this is not possible then cut the liner off shorter until it will be possible to fill the gap with mortar. 2. On the rear sheet I ensure the factory cut edge is at the bottom.. A chimney liner is obligatory if you are installing a woodburning stove, gas fire or open fire in a new build property to comply with Document J of current Building Regulations. The skim bead is in place. This problem can also occur when 2 rooms have been knocked into one, with, a cooker or gas fire in one chimney and an open fire in the other. Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. Your damper opening is probably in the range of 5". Due to the 200mm flue the interior designer had been told they could not have an open fire but this was seen as key to her fireplace design for this vaulted ceiling room. This is exactly the same process as is used to attach plasterboard to a brick/block/stone wall. Slap on loads of mix around the chimney liner and push the pot over it into the mortar bed. It’s possible for adjacent woodwork or other combustible material to catch fire in just a few hours when an active flame is sending heat through an unlined chimney. (Some of the bigger stoves for central heating may use a 7" flue liner). Closure plate installation here: Reach up the through the hole in your closure plate (you did make a hole I hope - 1" larger diameter than your flue pipe) and grab the vitreous pipe and pull it down through the hole and down to and onto the stove. Hearth down first. First step - go onto the roof and take a length of rope (at least 5m longer than your chimney is high) and a weight. Victims of them compare the sound of the fire to a … The 15mm gap, above the three vertical Hardiebacker plates, allows another sheet of cement board to be slid in as a “roof”: the closure plate. As a rule of thumb the chimney, fireplace opening, should be not less than 1/7 th to 1/8 th of the area of the fireplace opening if the flue or chimney height is above 6 metres. Any fossil fuel-fired fire or stove, new or existing, needs ventilation to feed HardieBacker® 12mm cement backerboard is CE approved and BBA certified since May 2004. Chimneys are lined for a number of safety reasons. If you had a gas fire previously, you might find the gas liner coming through the chimney. The flue, also known as the chimney lining, is basically a pipe up the middle of the chimney. I can literally stand up on my fireplace after a fire has been burning for 15-20 minutes and stick my hand inside the chimney opening. A chimney liner is obligatory if you are installing a woodburning stove, gas fire or open fire in a new build property to comply with Document J of current Building Regulations. Chimney liners are mandatory if you have a wood-burning fireplace, gas fireplace or open fire fireplace. 4. If you have to have a join have it down the middle maybe? Now use some strong duct tape and tape the folds together. If its a class one flue IE 9" brick flue lined with glazed pipe or just bare brick then it will be OK for an open fire. You will find it easier to bond the rear board first, before measuring and cutting the side boards (otherwise you will be guessing the thickness of your "back wall board + adhesive" which is not possible to do accurately. A 225mm diameter flue of a similar height will support a fireplace with a dimension no greater than 550mm by 550 mm (22inches by 22 inches). Sometimes the rope needs "persuading" to get past obstacles and bends in the chimney. Don't over worry I did so many with large dot/dab lumps and everything worked fine for me. Once the register plate is screwed into place put your hand up through the flue hole of the plate and put a fillet of mortar all around the outside edge of the plate where it meets the walls so as to seal it. If fixing a register plate then it is usually easiest to do the rawlplugs ready for it to be fixed in place, but actually screw it into place once the chimney liner is down. For example, if the liner is a tight fit in the chimney or you fitted the liner/cowl the weekend before, during a rare UK sunny weather slot, and the cowl is now fixed in place and the scaffolding is on somebody else’s house. If you have an older flue liner our professionals can check the condition by carrying out a CCTV inspection. We recommend that person 1 proceed with all due caution. Using a hammer and chisel, begin to break away the plaster covering the fireplace opening. These doors, located at the throat of the flue before it exits the chimney, need to be opened prior to igniting a fire. Fitting the chimney liner - Step by step First step - go onto the roof and take a length of rope (at least 5m longer than your chimney is high) and a weight. Often it is possible to hear each other by shouting through the chimney. If you think your chimney may be on fire call the fire service on 999. But, you will be attaching “skim bead” to the front edge of the left and right vertical Hardiebacker boards and this bead will stick out a further 3-5mm so bear this in mind (my Hardiebacker boards used to stick out into the room 3-5mm less than one might think for this very reason). As you feed the liner into the chimney, try and straighten it so that it doesn't curl inside the chimney flue. Do not attempt to fit a liner without first sweeping the chimney. Pull the liner up 6″ to give you room to work. Chimney Lining for Open Fires and Wood Burners. You will find it easier to bond the rear board first, before measuring and cutting the side boards (otherwise you will be guessing the thickness of your back wall which is not possible to do accurately. The two side boards will be exactly the same height as your rear board and also need to be completely spirit-level horizontal along the top edge. Clay and concrete chimney liners are required to be used in dry, non-condensing areas for optimum results. Methods of Lining Your Chimney Option 1: Widen the damper opening. There is an even lazier method and you might even avoid any plastering! The clamp can go above the closing plate instead if it is easier, but it must be remembered that the fixing clamp must still bear on the sides of the chimney as the closing plate is NOT a support component. Cut the liner at the marker pen mark. Since then, the chimney doesn't draw well, with smoke coming into the room. Use a marker pen to mark the liner about 1″ above the chimney pot. This all down to preference. Lining a chimney is typically essential before inserting a new appliance or running an open fire; Smoke being blown back into the room, or ‘downdraught’, is one common problem, and could be the result of the flue being too cold, or being of inadequate height or overshadowed by high buildings or trees They were first used in Denmark with wood-burning stoves. Stovesonline LtdFlightway, Dunkeswell Business ParkDunkeswell, Devon, EX14 4RD, © Stovesonline Ltd. VAT: 801261871, Company: 04636920. Please make sure you use gloves, as the liner edge is extremely sharp. I use these in a £20 Erbauer jigsaw from Screwfix and they make mincemeat out of 12mm hardibacker. A chimney liner may be necessary in an older property if the flue inside your chimney is no longer safe to use. My parents paid circa £800 for a 175mm stainless flexi liner for their open fire, last year. The fitting of the closure plate is outlined in more detail in a separate article that you should also read: Wood burning stove in a fireplace connected to a chimney liner. Within older buildings, the chimney shaft would have been used for an open fire, and the flue size would have been much larger than that for a modern wood burner. Chimney Lining systems for wood burning stoves and open fires. The two sides go in next, again factory-cut edge at bottom. Use the hearth or air vent as a guide for where this should be. Wood burning stove installer (including solid fuel heating systems). Clip-Together-Chimney Design Service (if you have no chimney), Stovefitter's Manual (click book cover to proceed to all articles), The definitive guiding to choosing and installing a wood burning or multifuel stove, Cip-Together-Chimney Design Service (if you have no chimney), Ennvironment, renewables and recent media nonsense, Methods for Fitting Stove Into a Fireplace (infographic). If there is a chimney pot then this will need to be removed along with any mortar which was holding it in place. Old flues were often made of brick or stone. Move flammable materials, furniture, ornaments away from the fireplace An open fireplace is an attractive feature in many homes around the UK, with around 60% of our housing stock built earlier than 1960. Registered in England, UK, we plant a tree for every stove we supply. Dust is about 10% or less than that created by a diamond blade. FLUE LINING: An approved fire-resistant material which lines the inside of the flue, usually made of refractory concrete or … and a lighter block, a warm air flow through the chimney is quickly developed. If you’re looking to install a wood burning stove or a multi fuel stove, due to new regulations it is necessary to have the chimney relined. Pulling the rope so that it makes a noise may help to locate where the chimney is inside the house. 90% of all my in-recess installs followed this method: the end result is very tidy. The previous owners had the top part of the chimney stack removed. If you have any doubts, please call our technical team. If you wish to install an open fire flue liner, we also supply the fittings required to complete the job. If you’re installing a wood burning stove, gas fire or open fire in a new build property yourself then a chimney liner is obligatory to comply with building regulations. Our revolutionary system is guaranteed for life. When installing a chimney liner, getting the liner through the damper opening can be something of a challenge. We’ll see if it cracks! Check to see if the hearth is still in place Person 1 may find that person 2 can hear them better if they shout into the free end of the liner. You can see the bricking up between the lintel and the arch. Plastering a whole area can also be easier than trying to blend a small “repair area” into the rest of the plaster. Though it is always recommended to have a chimney liner. Gas fires, meanwhile, are much cleaner. I now like the “lazy” method below but this may be too basic for some. Skim bead is a hard strip that you will plaster to and makes a good and solid metal corner. Class 2 liners Sometimes the rope needs "persuading" to … In an older (e.g. If Person 2 can see what is obstructing the liner (they will need a light) then they may be able to free it up, using a stick or something else. When passing through a wall or ceiling, you should use a section of chimney that is rated as a wall pass through, so that there is no risk of your wall or roof catching on fire. Drop the rope down the chimney with the weight at one end. If you're anywhere near Basildon, I could give you the number of the bloke who did mine - he gets you to buy the supplies yourself, so you control how much it all costs, and then he charged me £450 to open out our fireplace, set in the new hearth, build the stove, fit the register plate, drop the liner in, insulate the chimney around it and fit the chimney top hat. I hunted high and low for a solution and finally after many months I stumbled across these little beauties: https://www.powertoolsuk.co.uk/bosch-t141hm-jigsaw-blades-2608633175.html. Place the pot somewhere safe and squash flat the last 9 inches of the liner and fold the flat section back on itself. The process begins with the incomplete combustion of fuel in the attached appliance, usually a wood or coal stove, or open fire.The unburned volatiles are heated to the vapor state but not consumed due to a lack … Update: it did! A chimney fire is more likely (far less likely if lined and would also be contained within the metal tube) if you do not fit a chimney liner. Thermocrete are the UK's leading supplier & installer of concrete flue and chimney lining systems in the UK. The following pics show the lazy-bod method. Go to top of chimney and pull the liner up until the newly-attached vitreous pipe is “up the chimney a little, out of the way" so the closure plate can be fitted. It makes sense to drop a liner down the chimney and fit a decent cowl whilst you have the scaffold in place. We had the sweep round recently and he told us off for burning damp wood (which apparently makes lots of soot and can eat through … Most fitters will do the same: fit the side and rear boards before the top closure plate (plate that blocks off the chimney). It might also be called the "it is too dark to see how crappy the surface is" method. This is because the top edges of these first three boards will provide a shelf, a flange, on which your closure plate will sit (your closure plate will be made of the same board and will slide in to sit on the first three boards). Also, to assist later stove installation, choose a tapered adjustable vitreous pipe section (5" and 6" versions available) and let it drop through the hole in readiness for making the fitting of the bottom section of vitreous pipe, later on, easier. You can extend your chimney with a taller chimney pot (if you are an Edinburgh customer you can buy these at the Christie Depot) or by lengthening your flue with an additional twin wall length (if you have used the ECO ICID range). Laid down tools in 2013 to write The Stove Fitter's Manual and open a small shop in North Wales (the Wood Stove Hut). You may be able to re-use this chimney pot, once the flexible liner has been fitted, as long as the internal diameter at the top is not less than the diameter of the liner and it isn't damaged. I Don’t know, I’m Fluless. The Thermocrete liner is there to ensure safe usage of your stove by preventing carbon monoxide leaking into other areas of the property. Chimney fires are the result of burning wood depositing excessive creosote build-up that catches on fire inside the chimney liner. Doing it later will incur extra costs. Inside of recess can be painted but should never be plaster-skimmed as the heat will crack the plaster. In this case you cannot “slide in your closure plate like a shelf” ‘cos the liner is in the way and cannot be moved. We have an open fire on the ground floor of a Victorian terrace. The functions of a chimney are to safely remove the products of combustion from the fireplace or appliance to outside Your chimney will need sweeping at least once a year and you will need to sweep up ash regularly. You may need to pull up a little on the liner before you tighten the fixing clamp. Remember that debris may very well fall down the chimney at any time during the installation of the flexible liner. Another example. Hardiebacker paints fine same as plastered surfaces. You will need to paint the surface of the inside walls of the recess and one side of the cement board with a PVA mix (3 water to 1 PVA). The almost-finished job in the lounge is shown below (stove not connected). But you really do need to know what size of flue is recommended for your planned stove, and it probably wouldn't be any good with an open fire. Essentially you are adding some adjustability to the system using a telescopic part. . Push the rope through the fold as shown in the diagram and tie it together under the fold. It takes a little more effort but provides a professional finish for the more discerning client ;-). Decorator's Caulking can be painted (do not use silicon as paint does not adhere to it). Adjustable vitreous (in red on scribbled drawing) will hang through the closure plate at least 4″ allowing you to easily slide your vitreous up and over it then drop it back down into your stove collar. Person 2 should have a dust mask, goggles and wear suitable clothes and protective hat - a lot of dust is likely to fall down the chimney, as well as larger lumps. If you are doing a leca backfill then tie the liner off while you fix the register plate in place. We’ll come back to the creating and fitting of the closure plate in another article so forget it for the moment. Update to this article: although i have suggested dri-wall adhesive to stick Hardiebacker -board to walls (as I have often done) but the manufacturers recommend a concrete-based tile adhesive. If the flue needs a liner, check with your supplier as to the best liner to use under your circumstances. No need to prepare surface for the caulking. Note that you can get spider cracks in Hardiebacker (if if your stove is closer than 6″). Note the centre join in the cement board: the white stuff is Decorator’s Caulking applied with an old credit card. Leaves and animal nests inside a flue can quickly fuel a chimney fire when touched by loose embers from a fire. Often all you have to do is remove some of the masonry from between bricks. It is better to use a qualified chimney sweep who will be able to advise you on good burning practices for your open fire or stove. To check the flue way is clear of blockages and birds’ nests. This will leave gaps, allowing toxic carbon monoxide and possibly chimney fire sparks to escape through the cracks into the home, igniting a fire. Fit the cowl to the liner using the supplied Jubilee clip. Remember that the edges of the flexible chimney liner will be very sharp. A typical 6" round liner is 6.25" on the outside diameter. You can see the smooth walls of the builder’s opening. Chimney … Pumice chimney liners are perfect for use with open fireplaces. And now you can see the first three 12mm cement-boards. Okay, you have completed your breakout to your builder’s opening, ensured a lintel or arch is in place, and maybe fitted your hearth (you can do the hearth before or after the lining of the recess). The open fire will often pull fumes into the room from the other appliance. Secure the cowl to the chimney pot using the second Jubilee clip. Here is Hardiebacker’s official recess-lining leaflet, Also see: opening up a fireplace, wood burning stove in a fireplace connected to a chimney liner, distance to combustibles, air gap above stove. I have heard that compressed Vermiculite board (about an inch thick) is far better but it is very expensive and thick (reduces width of recess maybe too much).