JohnBishop

Hi All, Would you suggest any other suppliers? I am after 7 and 8mm thick laminate boards. I have looked into Woodfloor Warehouse https://www.woodfloorwarehouse.co.uk but Flooring King is cheaper for under 30sqm orders. https://www.flooringking.co.uk Have you seen any better deals? Thanks

I am looking into liners and you suggested to go for a double skin. I can see two types: 5" 316 / 904 Ultraflex Chimney Liner 5" 904 / 904 Ultraflex Chimney Liner I can see that the guarantee is extra 5 years making it 25 years. 316 is only couple quid cheaper not sure what would be the reason to buy it.

I spent about 2 weeks to sort out the fireplace before we can move on to the roof repair. My neighbour is not interested in contributing to the work apart from maybe fixing the chimney, cap it properly rather than do half of it just on my side. I have a number of quotes and it is kind of a dilemma because installing the secret gutter is the best option BUT it is also quite disruptive and if the neighbour does not contribute I don't want any complaints later and pay for additional call outs if there are some leaks on his side. I don't want his slate to be touched and I think that is how the housing association did it last time. People have different priorities and it's hard to agree on jobs like that. I am going to fix the ridge tiles. Fixing the chimney £400 and the ridge tiles £800. Secret gutter work ranges between £1500-1600. I had a quote for a secret gutter on both sides and a chimney work for £1850 in total which is the best option in my opinion but I won't be spending that much just to prove how good neighbour I am.

I am looking into strengthening these concrete blocks On this video the man is applying some liquid onto the lintel and bricks? What is that? Diluted PVA or basically some water?

I can see there is a DPM and some concrete on top in the chimney breast. How can I build on top of that? I think I just use the cement board on the sides and back but not sure how to go around this poly-ethylene stuff. I think on the right side originally the chimney breast was not vertical and they kind of reconstructed it to make it straight on the outside but there is a bit of a mess on the inside.

right so you suggest to do a bit of an arch

When I open the whole chimney breast it is going to be about 1080mm wide. If I put 1200mm long lintel is it going to be enough? Like 6.5cm on each side. I only see 1350mm long lintels if 1200 is too short.

no, these are two different things. The spec says to use a 5" liner, 150-200mm is the clearance between the chimney breast walls and the sides and back of the stove.

this is about 90 years old house. As far as I know there were no chimney breasts upstairs on this chimney but there was a chimney on the other side of the property, outside wall, it was taken down at some point.

I think it makes sense to add another vent. One roofer also recommended to put an air-vent tile in the loft so there is some airflow for the chimney to dry out. The black marks and white residue indicates penetrating water from inside to outside. These two things would help with the ventilation on both sides of the brick.

You said 250mm minimum around the stove however the spec says minimum 50mm but they recommend 150mm for the best heat output and I get your point 250mm is even better but depth of chimney breast is 500mm so if I do 250mm gap at the back the stove will be sticking out by 50mm. I reckon the best would be to do 200mm as a compromise. I am not entirely sure about the height of the fireplace I should demolish. I can see most people do the height of the stove + the height of the pipe so the register plate is level with the breast opening so in my case it's 580mm + 280mm = 860mm I reckon I need to go even higher, get rid of these concrete blocks and replace them with a long supporting block that can reach from one end to the other unless there are other options at supporting it e.g. with steel. I think the idea is so the hot air leaves the chimney breast into the room rather than circulate under the concealed register plate so I think it is preferred to have a larger opening. I think the chimney is completely blocked because I don't feel any draft.

It's safe. There were 2 gas safety men. The gas stove has been removed years ago. There is no gas leak anywhere. The pipe that delivered gas is plugged.

there was a gas heater in the past

Looking at the chimney stack above how do I know which ones belong to who? Considering the right hand side of the chimney breast is mine the right side of the chimney should also be mine. So the neighbour has the big pot and the small smoked thingy as he has a gas heater while mine is the white one. If the big pot and white one is mine then the two flues must twist in a awkward way. I just don't know how they build these wide chimney breasts side by side but it must be a lot of fun.

A bit of an update, the fireplace has been reopened and it looks like there is a 5" liner in there already. Because the chimney breast is 50/50 side by side, it's quite wide 145cm, 50cm deep. It does not make sense to open the whole thing. I think we leave some of the cheeks. The stove is H58cm x W49cm x D29cm It seems I need to move the center support block at least one concrete block higher because at the moment it would touch the stove.

I got an after market 5kW stove Cast Tec Juno 5. I think it's a good choice. The spec says that "The diameter of the flue should not be less than 150mm and not more than 200mm." So the 5" liner is going to be used. How can I tell that the liner is of good quality? I am replacing the glass on the stove and there is this thin foam around the glass? It disintegrated. What is it called?

Apparently vermiculate holds water. That was their explanation I have not fact checked it.

Speaking about vermiculite. One of many HETAS installers I have contacted has come back to me and said that they don't pour vermiculite because it's not recommended and leads flue to rot. 😀

Right, so in my case the chimney is in central location of the semi-detached house. It use to be another chimney on the other side but it was taken down. I have seen someone talking about taking air from an air duct that runs in the floor but this would require me to demolish some of the concrete floor. The neighbour has a hole in the wall for the fresh air for his gas heater so I reckon no other option was available for him. This fresh air duct is an awesome idea and prevents the warm air in the room from being sucked into the chimney. I definitely ask the installers if this option is possible in my setting.

This vermiculite is a really good idea. I can see on the Internet they talk about insulation of the chimney so there is no/less condensation. Thanks. Will contact local Hepas installers.

Do you mean the DEFRA approved stoves that have this secondary combustion so there is less residue in the flue liner and it basically burns more efficiently?

apologies I wasn't clear enough. I meant to find out if they put a plastic membrane under the concrete. I reckon to find out I would need to drill or destroy some of the floor. Does it mean regardless if the membrane is there or not should I put plastic membrane on top? like this one? https://www.wickes.co.uk/NDC-1000-Gauge-Black-Damp-Proof-Membrane-4X12-5m/p/152859 and then these wood fibre boards? https://www.screwfix.com/p/diall-wood-fibre-underlay-boards-7m-15-pack/7824r this would only be 5mm thick but no insulation value or is it better to use https://www.carpetright.co.uk/underlay/timbershield-wood-and-laminate-underlay-3mm/ with underlay tape https://www.wickes.co.uk/Arbiton-Underlay-Foil-Tape---50mm-x-50m/p/220459 with wood fibre underlay on top, this would be 8mm thick in total I checked the doors and on the ground floor there is at least 18mm clearance in the dining doom and between 25 and 30mm in the living room. Upstairs it is at least 22mm clearance but I put the wood fibre underlay boards only. I aim for 8mm thick laminate boards so I need at least 16mm without cutting the need of cutting doors.

I talked to the neighbour and I think we should be OK. We won't be replacing roofs only repair it. I think considering he is a pensioner, it's a relatively short notice I do 60/40 split of the costs. The funny thing is I have two local roofers who I wanted to chose from as they are the most responsive of all BUT one of them wants to fix the ridge tiles while the other insists on installing the secret gutter but I am sure during the inspection otherwise - a less invasive job, fixing the ridge tiles rather than a secret gutter so he must changed his mind in the last 2-3 weeks. I dealt with at least 12 roofers, 4 came over and 3 other gave me quotes based on the images. The man who wants to fix the ridge tiles and use some Belgian tech in place of the mortar that apparently lasts much longer showed me that fixing a secret gutter if the roof is not replaced at the same time leaves a mess because they cannot match the tiles exactly in terms of colour and he showed me an example on a nearby roof. He also suggested to install some loft ventilation tiles. The other gent told me that ridge tiles are pretty much illegal these days and this should be phased out. He also said that whatever is to do with ridge tiles won't last 4 years as frost will crack it open. To be frank both sound professional and the man who suggested fixing the ridge tiles has twice as much good reviews.

That is why I am replacing all DG glass on all the windows. I see half of them had moisture in between so the seals are gone. I also deep clean the window frames including the gaskets.

ok, so I just put extra 170mm over the existing a bit dusty quilt. I understand I should not put it in parallel to the existing quilt. There is a bit of PIR on the hatch but not sure if this is enough. I could put a bit of quilt on top anyway. Yes, I have a proper mask. Having asthma otherwise I would cough my lungs out. There is 42sqm of floor space.