register plate/chimney/alarm question

Man_Overboard_2

My guess would be that the sweep brushed the flue from inside the stove, possibly using an undersized brush.

It is unlikely that the flue was lined at the time the stove was installed, but, if it was, then you should be able to see and/or feel the lining through the hatch above the stove.

There is a remote possibility that the flue would have been lined with something other than a flexible metal liner.

There are two reasons why the sweep might have chosen to sweep through the stove -

1) The access through the hatch (usually known as the 'soot-door' or 'soot-box') may have been restricted by the layout of the brickwork, or by the upper end of the metal stove-pipe which comes from the top of the stove and goes through the register plate. The stove-pipe should have been cut to length so that it goes only a few centimetres above the register plate, but sometimes it doesn't happen. There is a remote possibility that an overlength stove-pipe will be connected to a flexible flue-liner - if that is the case, then the flue liner will not be visible through the soot-door, but it might still be possible to reach up inside and feel where the stove-pipe ends.

2) The sweep may have decided that it was easier to 'keep things clean' by working through the stove. But he should still have opened the soot-door afterwards in order to clean it out, and at the same time vacuum clean the top of the register plate.

The good news is that the deposits from smokeless fuels (and I believe that anthracite is classed as a naturally smokeless fuel) are almost entirely made of mineral dust, and therefore present no fire risk. But they are still capable of blocking a chimney or flue if they are not removed by a sweep.

I think it is unlikely that the register plate is made of wood, but it might be worth asking the council to confirm that it is not asbestos. But bear in mind, that if it becomes clear that it is made of asbestos, then there will be some considerable upheaval in getting it removed.

Swipe

Can't see any burn marks and it's probably been there for donkey's years so I think you are worrying over nothing.