Fireplace confusion - flues?

callmechar

We live in a house built in 1962. We recently purchased this. We are replacing the fire and surround/hearth. The fire was capped off last week by a GS engineer. The fire which was installed in 2010 (from the book the previous owner left with receipt) is a Valor Homeflame fire.

Now the fire is capped off and fire removed (by GS engineer) - we removed the surround etc. However there is no flue.

I cannot understand how there is no flue - from my understanding there should be?

My husband says that the chimney is concrete lined as far as we can see.
Is this right? Should we install a flue?

tlh858

callmechar wrote: »

However there is no flue.

callmechar wrote: »

My husband says that the flue is concrete lined as far as we can see.

So which is it?
No flue or a concrete one?

callmechar

tlh858 wrote: »

So which is it?
No flue or a concrete one?

Apologies. Made a mistake in my post. There is a chimney which is concrete lined (as far as we can see). Is this adequate? My research on-line appears it isn't. But I am not sure if I have it wrong

pka_2

It depends on what you are installing, if going for a wood burner then yes you will need to install a flue. It was probably origionally an open fire hence a concrete lined chimney and no flue.

rustyboy21

Can you take some pics, so we can see what you are on about.

I would sugest the following photos.

Pic of your roof, showing what you have on top of it.
Pic of the fireplace in situ, without the fire
Pic of up the chamber, where your fire was sitting in.

This will help us work out what you have. Describing it usually ends up with total confusion, where chimneys are concerened.

callmechar

Ok thanks, just installing the same fire back again but changing the surround. Took fire out (by RGI) however worried re lack of flue. Here are some photos:

Front of chimney/where fire was


Chimney on roof:


Looking UP the chimney from the bottom

muckybutt

pka wrote: »

It depends on what you are installing, if going for a wood burner then yes you will need to install a flue. It was probably origionally an open fire hence a concrete lined chimney and no flue.

Not quite correct there pka !

Installing a stove does not mean you need a twin wall liner fitted there is no requirement in Part J for that.

Op: providing you get the chimney swept before you replace the fire and smoke tested for leaks then the chimney should be fine. A proper smoke test would be for the engineer to get on the roof and cap the pot off, then they should light a couple of smoke pellets below in the opening and allow the smoke to rise under perssure from a fan, this will push the smoke out of any gaps if there are any. If there are no leaks then you are good to go, if there are leaks then yes you will need a liner for gas, there are different liners for different fuels gas / solid so make sure you get the right one.

You should also get your chimney swept every year as a matter of course.

rustyboy21

OP Agree with what Mucky has said.

In Addition, if there is an issue with your chimney and it fails it's smoke test, then you can install a 5'' copex liner in it, the fire will work quite nicely off that instead. Just ensure your installer rebuilds the fire chamber before fitting the rest of the fireplace and seals the liner in place, if you need one with a closure plate. All in all, quite a simple job to do for a registered gas installer, who is acreddited for installing gas fires, make sure he is, before commencing work. A boiler installer is not qualified, unless he has paid for and taken this part of his acreditation. It will state it on his ID card.