Fireplace Fitter West Thurrock Essex (RM20): Opening up a disused fireplace to fit a wood burner, multi fuel or open fire is a great way to add some charm and a homely feel to any West Thurrock home. As long as you've got a good supply of wood, the addition of an open fire or wood burning stove for those frosty winters' days can even be more cost effective than a conventional central heating system. Combine a back boiler with your fireplace and you will enjoy supplies of endless hot water for even more savings.
Before you begin bashing away at a blocked up chimney there are a few things you'll need to think about to ensure you can safely install and use your new fireplace. All work must follow Part J of the Building Regulations, which addresses the installation and construction of hearths, chimney breasts, fireplaces and flue linings of any heating appliance. For the installation of a fireplace in a building that is listed, or one that is situated in a designated conservation area, you will have to check with you local planning office if planning permission will be necessary.
PROFESSIONAL FIREPLACE INSTALLATION OR DIY?
When refurbishing an old bricked-up or closed-off fireplace, there's a fair chance of encountering structural issues, thus even if you're pretty reasonable at do-it-yourself you could struggle with this sort of work. It could be that in order to get a fire burning in your fireplace once more you'll need nothing more than a quick clean up of the hearth and a visit from a chimney sweep. It's much more likely however, that you'll uncover a blocked up flue and an expanse of old brickwork that needs to be structural reinforcement to make sure that it's safe.
If your dwelling in West Thurrock has a fireplace installed and it's not put in correctly, there is not only a fire risk, but also of respiratory health issues. Therefore, using a professional fireplace installer is highly recommended. Making certain that sufficient oxygen is available in a room for a fire to burn safely is a major part of the Building Regulations (Part J) for fireplaces. An inefficiently burning fire in an inadequately ventilated space can result in a dangerous build-up of carbon monoxide gas.
To safely get around any issues with air flow, vents may need to be installed in the room as part of a fireplace installation, to guarantee suitable levels of oxygen reach the fireplace. Vents may also need to be installed in unused chimney flues which can sometimes cause stains and damp patches on to the chimney breast, due to trapped moist air.
BEFORE WORK COMMENCES
It is astonishing how much soot and grime can accumulate inside an old chimney and you won't know what is there until you uncover it. It's advised to remove your your carpets and furniture before any fireplace restoration work starts, as even with covers and other dust protection for your home furnishings, the chance of impairment from soot and dust is still likely. If you are installing a fireplace as part of an overall renovation then it should be one of the first tasks to be worked on after you've got the room back to bare walls and floors. This should help to prevent any staining damage by soot and dirt to any previously completed restoration work.
CONSTRUCTION AND STRUCTURAL WORK
Once the old fireplace has been opened up and exposed, you'll get a clearer concept of the kind of renovation work that needs to be done. You can then also proceed to sweep the chimney and clean any surviving elements of the hearth. The very first job on your to-do list should be to bring in a professional West Thurrock chimney sweep. They will not only make certain your flue and chimney are completely clean, but they can additionally take a look at the state of the chimney and flue liner and offer advice if you need to upgrade any area of the chimney and flue.
All the relevant UK Building Regulations must be complied with, if you need to install a new flue liner or strengthen the chimney structure. These are jobs that require a competent tradesman with a good understanding of the appropriate building regs and sound construction skills.
In older buildings you may discover the existing fireplace is bigger than you need, in which case a new concrete lintel will be needed to modify the opening. When you have successfully supported your fireplace with a new lintel it is now necessary to repair or update the hearth. To remain in line with the present building regs, any fireplace hearth needs to be raised above the level of the floor, although you might find that your hearth is sunk into a floor void, as they often were in past days. If your fireplace is of non-standard size you might have to choose a made to measure hearth, however there are a wide variety of ready-made hearths in stone, slate or marble.
FIREPLACE STYLES AND DESIGNS
If you pay a visit to a fireplace dealership you'll find that you have plenty of choice with the wide range of different choices open to you. You should follow the recommendations of the installation team and the salespeople with regards to which fireplaces will be suited to your specific chimney and flue, as some of them probably won't be.
Your existing decor, the look that you're seeking to create and in some cases, the age of your property in West Thurrock, will influence whether you opt for a wood burner, an open fireplace or a multi-fuel stove. If you've got an old-fashioned inglenook fireplace, a cast iron wood burner can look magnificent set within it, and has the added benefit of reflecting the heat back into the room from the brick or stone walls surrounding the stove.
Even if you do not have an existing chimney in your West Thurrock home, it is still feasible to install a multi-fuel or wood burning stove. It's possible to take a stainless steel flue straight from the top or rear of the wood burner and out through an external wall, therefore a chimney structure is not a requirement.
MULTI-FUEL, WOOD, OPEN, GAS OR ELECTRIC FIREPLACE?
Who does not enjoy the crackling of an open fireplace on a dark winters' evening, but if your situation doesn't allow for this, what are the other alternatives?
Multi-Fuel Stoves - To establish an interesting centerpiece in your dwelling in West Thurrock, these stoves can be run on a variety of fuels, such as oil, coal, wood or gas. Some designs, like the AGA range of multi-fuel stoves, can also be used for generating hot water, cooking and heating your entire property.
Gas Fireplaces - There are a wide array of styles to suit any house in West Thurrock, and as they provide instantaneous heat, they're more efficient thermally than wood burning or multi-fuel stoves in general. Any gas fireplace in your West Thurrock property must be installed and maintained by a registered Gas Safe contractor.
Electric Fireplaces - Can be fitted safely and easily by any competent person and there are designs and styles that are appropriate for virtually any room and home in West Thurrock. Contemporary electric fires can deliver authentic looking flame effects and and sometimes even the crackling sound of wood to replicate a real fire when inset into an old fashioned fireplace.
Wood Burning Stoves - Wood burning stoves have grown to be very popular in a lot of properties in West Thurrock, and can have modern or classic styling to match your decor. An added benefit of these is that they can provide hot water for personal use, or provide heating in another room by means of a radiator, when used in tandem with a back boiler.
Open Fireplaces - The classic fireplace which can use various fuels such as briquettes, wood, smokeless coal and other burnable products. Contemporary fireplaces are no longer the smoky, inefficient and draughty features that they once were, and an open fire creates a cosy and warm environment for the enjoyment of its occupants.
It is not only in West Thurrock itself that you're able to get fireplace installation providers - surrounding places like: Wennington, Coldharbour, Ockenden, Bulphan, Orsett, North Stifford, South Stifford, Southfields, Horndon on the Hill, Badgers Dene, Baker Street, Orsett Heath are also covered. Locally based West Thurrock fireplace fitters will probably have the phone code 01708 and the postcode RM20. Confirming this should confirm you're accessing a local fireplace specialist. West Thurrock home and business owners are able to utilise these and various other similar services.
Flues
Allowing your chimney to operate a great deal more effectively, a chimney or flue lining is an important part of your chimney structure. Installed inside chimneys to carry fumes outside, flue liners are conduits made of metal, ceramic material or clay. If you own an older home in West Thurrock, it may be that you do not have a flue lining in your chimney at all, or that the existing lining is defective and will need to be replaced with a new one.
The flue inside your chimney can be harmed and impaired and eaten away by the harmful gases and fumes that form as a fire is burning in your grate. When you are having your chimney swept, it's advisable to get the chimney sweep to look around for any damage. Instead of expelling those dangerous gases outdoors, a compromised flue can enable them to leak into your home's interior. There is likewise the danger of fires in the home since an impaired flue lining can let intense heat penetrate the chimney's structure.
Practical Ideas On How To Retain Your Fireplace And Bring Down Your Heating Bills
The traditional open fireplace has lost a little bit of of its allure as a result of concerns for the environment but it's still favoured by many in West Thurrock. The natural warmth of a fireplace stimulates very special remembrances for those who've got them. Having a fireplace has its advantages but there are a couple of negative aspects that could affect its usefulness. With energy costs elevating so quickly these days, your open fireplace must be a reliable source of heat, not one of inefficiency. When you've got a fire going in the fireplace, it can literally take away warm air out of the room, making your heater work harder. The fireplace damper is expected to prevent cold air from entering your home when you don't have a fire in the fireplace. Yet, dampers are not terribly effective seals, therefore all the warm air escapes and enables cold air to come into the room.
A great many householders in West Thurrock with fireplaces don't realise how it can impact heating costs. Rather than saving resources, and heating costs, it's typically adding hundreds of pounds of energy costs. There is a way to take your inefficient fireplace, and remake it into a heat generating system that your budget will love. There tend to be 4 simple things that you can do to change your fireplace into the cost-effective heat sourse you are searching for. These will make your fireplace very cost effective and very efficient.
Step one is to take away your fireplace damper and change it for a top sealing damper. This type of damper is set up at the top end of the chimney, and operates like a storm door. The top sealing damper keeps the air in the house from getting away and will work incredibly well in cold and hot weather conditions. It does not take much time to fit and you can order one online. Next, you should have a fire-back at the back area of your hearth. A fire-back is constructed of cast iron and it really is meant to protect the back wall from fire damage, while making your fireplace look stylish. The fire-back actually heats up from the open fire and sends the heat back into the room, consequently boosting the fireplace's efficiency.
Another method is to buy a fireplace heater/fan, which draws in air in a room and warms it up. These devices do not produce any smoke and can be very successful in keeping your property warm. The final thing you're able to do is to fix glass doors, which might be a bit on the expensive side. If you do your homework, you should be able to get an excellent deal on glass doors and they aren't too challenging to install yourself. Glass fireplace doors is able to keep the air in your house from escaping up the flue and also help to safeguard your family from fires.
The information presented here isn't that challenging to implement, and all of the products can be readily purchased online, or from your local fireplace stockist. Keep your fireplace and cut heating costs by making it more efficient.
Chimney Sweeping West Thurrock
It is easy to postpone a routine household chore like sweeping the chimney, but if you've got a log burning stove or an open fire, it's essential that this is done regularly. At least once every year is the advice for chimney sweeping.
So as to get the work done properly and without any mess, the best course of action is to contact a specialist West Thurrock chimney sweep, who will be glad to help you. While the chimney sweep is cleaning your chimney, he'll also be on the lookout for any safety issues or problems, so that they can then be resolved.
A build-up of soot and creosote can lead to chimney fires if you neglect to sweep your chimney. Apart from the risk of fires there are other hazardous situations that can be caused by a poorly maintained chimney, one example is that of carbon monoxide fumes being drawn back into your home.
All these factors add up to the importance of choosing a trustworthy West Thurrock chimney sweep, who is also covered by public liability insurance. You can CLICK HERE for chimney sweeping prices in West Thurrock.
West Thurrock Fireplace Related Tasks
There is a variety of work that can be undertaken by your local West Thurrock fireplace installer including brick fireplace installations, corner fireplaces in West Thurrock, fireplace removal, Victorian fireplaces, reclaimed fireplaces, cast fireplaces, chimney repairs, built-in gas fires, modern fireplace, fire grate conversions, elm fireplaces, two-sided fireplaces, gas fireplace installation, 3-sided fireplaces in West Thurrock, open fireplaces, fake fireplace installations, chimney lining, cast iron fireplace installations, outdoor fireplace installation, fireplace replacement, fireplace inserts in West Thurrock, oak beam fireplaces in West Thurrock, fireplace hearths in West Thurrock, inglenook fireplace installations, multifuel & wood burning stoves, fireplace suites in West Thurrock, marble fireplace installations in West Thurrock, fireplace mantels, the installation of tiled fireplaces, freestanding stoves, and lots more. This is by no means an all-embracing list of what's on offer from a local fireplace fitter. You can CLICK HERE and complete our simple quote form, if there are some other West Thurrock fireplace requirements that you require but can't find here.
Family & Friends Recommendations
Whenever you've got a project or undertaking that requires hiring a contractor or service in West Thurrock, asking family and friends for recommendations is invariably a good idea. These word of mouth references can be one of the most effective ways to filter out inferior contractors and companies with lousy reputations, and help you to single out someone who's the ideal fit for your needs.
Asking a friend or member of your family for advice also means that you can discover whether anything went awry, how speedily mistakes were resolved, and what the contractor's attitude was like as a result. Furthermore you can get a bit of first hand experience of the timekeeping and reliability of the fireplace fitter. They'll be in a position to tell you how accurate the original quotation was in comparison to the final price, which, unless they've got a price guarantee, is frequently difficult to obtain from the installers directly.
Given that your friends and relatives are individuals you know and can trust in relation to their advice, they ought to be your first point of reference. If they have had a disappointing experience in their dealings with a certain contractor or company, you may find that they will be reluctant to talk about them. It is generally the case that many people will be more than willing to discuss a good contractor and less inclined to discuss a mediocre one. They may even offer an alternative company, rather than 'bad mouth' a below par one they've previously dealt with.
Please Leave a Review
When people in West Thurrock are looking for services, the majority of them check out reviews online to help them to make an informed choice, consequently decent reviews and testimonials are the driving force for any local business enterprise. If someone has done a decent job, it's only good and proper that you leave them a positive review, and tell others about how they did. Your first hand experience of the business will be beneficial not merely to the company, but also to any possible client. If like most other people you used reviews to uncover somebody to install a fireplace, you'll realise how useful that can be. Even if a particular company website looked professional, without any compelling reviews and testimonials you might well have looked elsewhere for your fireplace installation.
However, how much faith can be put on reviews that are displayed on the website of a company? They might have been "conjured up" by a company employee, hoping to make their services look better, or were they penned by real clients?
Rather than trusting these, you can head over to the reviews on Google My Business listings, where you will find more genuine and sincere reviews on companies in West Thurrock. Trusted, because this also affects the search engine rankings of a business, this is THE review website to discover the reputation of any business. The 2nd largest review platform for local companies in West Thurrock is Bing Places for Business, and this is undoubtedly the main rival to Google My Business. An overall picture of the working standards and reliability of a company that successfully worked on your project can be established by leaving a review here, and while doing so you could help to raise their profile the area.
Company reviews could can just as easily be posted on Facebook and Twitter pages, which are excellent places leaving feedback. A leading part of any small company's marketing and media promotions will include the effective use of these social media sites. Their marketing message will be strengthened by your supportive reviews and give a starting place for neighbours and friends who are looking for similar services.
Even in these modern, high-tech times, it is still appropriate to send in a hand-drafted thank you letter, if you're not all that computer savvy. Believe it or not these are still essential in an internet crazy world and can be scanned in for use on websites, or perhaps even framed or compiled to build a portfolio of reviews for face to face meetings with prospective customers. No matter which strategy you use to provide your review of a trustworthy local company, you'll get a warm and fuzzy feeling inside knowing that you have rewarded somebody who gave you great service.
More Help and Advice
To check out the latest on fireplaces on social websites, check this out. Presently there are some tremendous posts about fireplace installation on the net, so if you're keen on finding out about fireplace mantels check this out. Fireplace Installation guidance and advice is readily available from online forums, so to make the most of this fact you should pop along to the ever popular Buildhub Forum, discussions comprise widening a fireplace, chimney design, stove vents, wood burning stoves, building regulations and pellet stoves and boilers. Find out how to install a wood burning fireplace on YouTube here. For more info about coal burning fireplaces, fireplace heating efficiency, the different types of fireplaces, the evolution of fireplaces, the health effects of fireplaces and how fireplaces affect the environment, check out Wikipedia (HERE).
Fireplace Installers Near West Thurrock
Also find: Southfields fireplace installers, Baker Street fireplace installers, Badgers Dene fireplace installers, Orsett fireplace installers, Coldharbour fireplace installers, Ockenden fireplace installers, Orsett Heath fireplace installers, Horndon on the Hill fireplace installers, Bulphan fireplace installers, North Stifford fireplace installers, South Stifford fireplace installers, Wennington fireplace installers and more. It is possible to get fireplaces installed in the majority of these places. To adeptly install fireplaces in your property, these versatile tradesmen have the necessary knowledge and experience. With these dedicated specialists at their service, residents can bask in the comforting and warm ambiance a fireplace brings to their homes. By simply clicking here, fireplace installation quotes are available to local householders. Why not get started with your fireplace installation right away?
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Fireplace installation in RM20 area, (dialling code 01708).
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