Dry Rot

To answer my own question, I was sitting in the hearth today pointing up the joints in the masonry and there is a LOT of soot staining on the inside of that lintel, so it has been exposed to smoke over a long period. As it is non-combustible, I assume there is plenty of spacing between where the top of the stove will be and any combustible material. It was a bit of a squeeze for an 80 year old but I managed!?

OK, some more plaster removed. The fireplace opening is approximately 900mm x 900mm and 500mm front to back. The base of the fireplace is 40mm thick on a concrete floor and I will be laying a base of 40mm concrete paving slabs on mortar over that for the stove to stand on. The concrete slab extends 550mm out into the room from the wall/fireplace opening. The stone lintel above the opening has been plastered with mortar on the front which is a pity as the stone is 250mm deep and 100mm wide (front to back) and possibly intact. The plasterboard on the walls is on 50mm x 50mm timber framing, just visible outside the mason work of the fireplace in my photo. My problem is clearances between the fireplace and the stove, especially above the stove to that lintel. The Jotul 118 is basically a long box and the spigot for the flue can either be at the rear or on either side of the box near the rear. The stove dimensions are 940mm long (including the flue) by 360mm wide by 640mm high, which only leaves 250mm between the top of the stove and the bottom of the lintel (which as I've said is 250mm thick vertically) Is that sufficient? I think it will leave room to remove the stove top to allow for cleaning, but I am wondering about fire risk? Inside the fireplace the masonry is nicely corbelled to a 250mm diameter clay liner (I will be inserting a 150mm stainless liner and registry plate). BTW, I do have a HETAS registered chimney sweep but want to do the bulk of this work myself. Any and all comments and suggestions welcomed. Incidentally, the dark spots on the stone sides near the tops are the ends of 25mm steel bar that have been cut off. I assume these to be the remains of swinging hangers for hanging pots on when this was an open fire. I have seen these in cottages in the Hebrides but they seem to be the first things to go as I could not find any good pictures on Google. Such is the price of modernisation! Now we all want to turn the clock back!

Yes, I already have a Woodwarm in the living room and put a stainless liner in for that. At my previous address, I just had the original clay liner which shattered after a chiney fire. Looking back it is a wonder the house did not burn down. So it will be a s/s liner for this one!

Hi, I just found this forum through Google and it looks like the answer to my prayers! I've used the same screen name I use on some other forums as I think I recognise a few names I've seen elsewhere. I am wanting to install an old 1970s (?) Jotul 118 stove into an existing fireplace that has been revealed after the 1950s fireplace was removed and I now find myself trying to understand the Scottish building regulations! It will be very valuable to hear from those who have done something similar in Scotland. I'll post more details and photos as I strip back the plaster but the alcove which was the original fireplace is built into the stone wall (random rubble) of the house with stone literally all around. This old fireplace is blackened with soot (except where I've plastered it with mortar) so has already been exposed to fire and is all non-combustible. But I am getting ahead of myself. More later when I've hacked off that plaster! Thank you for letting me join. Here's the old fireplace so far.