Fireplace Fitter Swanley Kent (BR8): Re-opening a disused fireplace to fit an open fire, a wood burner or a gas fire is a good way to add a bit of character and a homely feel to your Swanley property. Nippy winter evenings can become a joy as you relax in front of your new fireplace surrounded by the crackle of firewood, and if your fire is combined with a back boiler you can even enjoy plentiful hot water as well.
There are some crucial things to consider before you begin any work, in order to create an attractive, efficient and safe fireplace in your home. Any combustible appliance installed within residential homes in Swanley must conform to Part J of the Building Regulations, and this applies to hearths, flue linings, chimney breasts and fireplaces. Planning permission may also be needed before work begins if your home is listed or in a conservation area.
DIY OR PROFESSIONAL FIREPLACE INSTALLATION?
You might be capable of doing some of the work in remodeling a pre-existing fireplace if you've got the ability needed, however structural and safety problems are often found that need to be resolved professionally. It might be that so as to get a fire roaring once more you'll need nothing more than a good clean up of the hearth and a sweeping of the chimney. However, what you will more likely find is a pile of old bricks that conceals issues such as a blocked chimney or a lintel that needs replacing.
It's usually best to look to the experience and know-how of a specialist fireplace installer in Swanley, because of the severe fire and health risks that can be caused by an improperly installed or renovated fireplace. Airflow must be sufficient in any room that a fireplace is to be installed; and it is a requirement in the Building Regulations that this is the case. A fire doesn't burn properly in a room where there's not enough oxygen, and death can occur when carbon monoxide gas is produced.
It may be necessary to install airflow vents in floors and walls to enable the fire to get sufficient oxygen to burn efficiently and safely at all times. They might also have to install vents in unused chimney flues which sometimes trap condensing air and lead to staining and damp spots on your chimney breast.
BEFORE WORK STARTS
Opening up an old fireplace can cause a lot of of soot and dirt to enter your room. Even with coverings for your home furnishings, the risk of impairment from grime and soot is still possible and it's advisable to remove your belongings and any woven materials before any fireplace restoration work and chimney cleaning starts. If your fireplace is being installed as part of an overall renovation then it ought to be one of the initial things to be completed after you have brought the room back to its bare walls and floors. This will help to avoid any discolouration damage by dirt and chimney soot to any completed restoration work.
CONSTRUCTION AND STRUCTURAL WORK
Once you've revealed your old fireplace you will have a better idea of the work that needs to be done, and also be in a position to thoroughly sweep the chimney and clean any parts of hearth that can be re-used. Contacting a proper chimney sweep to clean your chimney will be one of the very first items on your agenda. They will not only make certain your chimney and flue are nice and clean, but they can additionally determine the state of the flue liner and existing chimney and provide guidance about whether you need to replace any part of the chimney structure and flue.
If it is necessary to install a new flue liner or strengthen the chimney all relevant Building Regulations must be followed. An experienced fireplace installer and builder in Swanley will be needed to undertake this task, and will need the knowledge and skills in construction to follow all building regulations.
If you need to change the width of opening of your existing fireplace to something more suitable for your new design, a supporting lintel will have to be put in. When your concrete lintel is in position and secure you may now press on with the installation, upgrade and renovation of the fireplace hearth. You might discover that your existing hearth has been sunken into a floor void, but to be in accordance with current building regulations it is required to be raised above floor level. You can find custom-made options to fit pretty much any size and style of fireplace, or you can select from a range of common sized hearths to match your decor.
STYLES OF FIREPLACE
A trip to a fireplace showroom or a browse online will reveal the alternatives available for the different fireplace designs and styles. The suggestions and advice from your sales and installation team, which will be in line with your particular requirements, will help you to pick a fireplace which is both suited to your existing flue and chimney, as well as for your decor.
You property's age, and the style that you're trying to create for your room, should all help you to decide upon the design and type of fireplace that's best for you. By way of example, a cast iron wood burner looks fantastic set back in an inglenook fireplace, highlighting the charm of the stove and reflecting the heat back into the room effectively.
A wood-burning stove is also a good option if you do not have a chimney breast in your Swanley home. A chimney is not needed since the flue is fitted to the top or rear of the stove and taken out through an external wall.
WOOD, ELECTRIC, GAS, MULTI-FUEL OR OPEN FIREPLACE?
The charm and look of a "real" fire can't be beaten, but what alternatives are available if this type of fireplace is not possible in your Swanley property?
Gas Fireplaces - Available in an array of designs to suit any property and are more thermally efficient than wood burners. Have to be professionally maintained and fitted by Gas Safe certified (replaced CORGI register in 2009) engineer.
Electric Fireplaces - A wide variety of electric fireplaces to suit pretty much any house in Swanley, can easily be fitted by any competent person. Contemporary electric fires can deliver authentic looking flames and even the crackling sound of wood to mimic an open fire when set into into an old fashioned fireplace.
Open Fireplaces - Provides an attractive focal point for your room and can use a range of solid fuels. An open fire is lovely to see and contemporary fireplaces are no longer the smoky, inefficient and draughty things that they used to be.
Multi-Fuel Stoves - Multi-fuel stoves can be fired up with with various different fuels, including coal, wood, gas or oil, to generate an attractive focal point in your house in Swanley. They can be used not merely for heating a room, but some styles such as the AGA collection, can supply hot water, provide a useful cooking area and can be used to heat the complete house if plumbed into a system of radiators.
Wood Burning Stoves - Even the smallest room in Swanley can be improved by the installment of a wood burner, which are available in a range of designs, and can even be fitted as a freestanding feature. If fitted with a back boiler can provide hot water to heat radiators or for use in your house.
Fireplace installation work can be undertaken in Swanley and also in nearby places like: Farningham, Maplescombe, Kevintown, St Mary Cray, Eynsford, Lullingstone, Questor, Crockenhill, Pinden, Fawkham, Chislehurst, Chelsfield, Darenth, Horton Kirby, and in these postcodes BR8 7PX, BR8 7EZ, BR8 7PZ, BR8 7NP, BR8 7DB, BR8 7LW, BR8 7NR, BR8 7EX, BR8 7AA, and BR8 7EP. Fireplace installers from Swanley should have the telephone dialling code 01322 and the postcode BR8. Verifying this should confirm that you access a local fireplace installer. Swanley people will be able to utilise these and countless other comparable services.
Chimney Sweep Swanley
If you've got an open fire or a wood burner in your property, it is best to get your chimney swept frequently. Chimneys need to be swept and cleaned at least once annually to keep them in safe working condition.
To be confident that the job is being done correctly, it's invariably a good idea to bring in a qualified Swanley chimney sweep. While the chimney sweep is cleaning your chimney, he'll also be keeping an eye out for any problems or safety issues, so that they can then be promptly dealt with.
The build-up of ash, creosote and soot that results from failure to sweep a chimney in Swanley, can easily lead to a chimney fire. Carbon monoxide gas can also be drawn back into your property if you allow your chimney to become badly maintained.
Make sure that your chosen Swanley chimney sweep is experienced and is also covered by ample public liability insurance. To get a chimney swept in Swanley, CLICK HERE for a quote.
Tips To Take Care Of Your Fireplace And Lower Your Heating Costs
Sparked by concerns over the environment, the iconic fireplace has lost some of its appeal, although it's still a favourite with many folks in Swanley. Sitting in front of the warmth of a fireplace, brings back many precious memories for a lot of folks. The fireplace can offer numerous benefits for your home, but there are some significant drawbacks that need to be fixed. As energy costs go up, you should make sure that your fireplace is giving off heat in an efficient way. When a fire is burning, it might give warmth to those who are standing close to it, but it can in fact pull warm air out of a room, making your heat source work even harder. The hearth damper is expected to prevent cold air from coming in to your home when you don't have a fire going in the fireplace. Often times though, fireplace dampers are usually very inefficient in keeping warm air in the dwelling and cold air out.
What most people in Swanley tend not to know about their fireplace is that it doesn't necessarily do what they believe it is doing. As opposed to preserving resources, and heating costs, it's generally adding hundreds of pounds of energy expense. Nevertheless, there are some procedures that you can follow that can easily turn your budget busting fireplace into something a bit more efficient. Just about all you need to do is only 4 simple things enhance the performance of your fireplace. You will appreciate that these tips will help make your fireplace generate quality heat and your heating bill a lot lower.
The initial step is to take out your current fireplace damper and replace it with a top sealing damper. This kind of damper is located towards the top of your chimney and helps to stop rain from entering. It does a superb job of retaining warm air in the home during wintertime and cool air from escaping in the summertime. It isn't that tricky to fit and may be easily bought from a fireplace supplier or on the web. Another thing you're able to do should be to fit a fire-back at the rear of your fireplace. A fire-back is constructed of cast iron and it is actually meant to shield the wall behind from fire damage, whilst making your fireplace look elegant. The fire-back reflects the heat from a fire, and radiates the heat back inside the room, increasing the overall performance of the fireplace.
Another way to save money is by using a fireplace heater, which heats the room by drawing the air into a heat chamber and blowing the air back into the room. These heaters don't discharge any smoke and can be extremely efficient in keeping your home warm and toasty. The fourth thing that you can do is to install glass doors, which might be the most expensive option. If you do your homework, you should be able to get a good deal on glass doors and they are not too hard to put in yourself. Glass doors is able to keep the air in your property from escaping and also help to safeguard your family from falling into the flames.
The suggestions given here aren't terribly hard to do and you should be able to purchase everything you need online. Look after your fireplace and see your energy costs fall.
Flue Liners
Allowing your chimney to perform a great deal more effectively, a chimney liner or flu liner is an important part of the chimney set-up on your home. Installed inside chimneys to carry smoke and fumes to the outside, flue liners are conduits fabricated from clay, ceramic material or metal. An older chimney in Swanley might not have a flue lining at all, or will need to be relined depending on it's age and condition.
Your chimney flue lining can easily be damaged by the hazardous gases and fumes that are produced by the burning of a fire. Make sure your fireplace specialist inspects the flue lining for possible problems and damage. You must prevent those dangerous gases from seeping into your home's living space, which is exactly what can transpire when a flue is impaired. There's additionally the risk of fires in the property because an impaired flue can permit intense heat to penetrate the chimney's structure.
Swanley Fireplace Related Tasks
There are a wide range of tasks that can be carried out by your local Swanley fireplace installer including period fireplaces, electric fireplace installation, fireplaceprice quotes, multifuel stove installations Swanley, classic fireplaces, fireplace design, fireplaces, stone fireplace installations in Swanley, electric fire suites Swanley, wood burning fireplaces, fireplace mantels, inglenook fireplace in Swanley, cast iron fireplace installation in Swanley, Victorian fireplace installations Swanley, wood burning stoves Swanley, limestone fireplaces, marble fireplace surrounds, fireplace cleaning, stone fireplaces, double-sided stoves Swanley, fireplace services, fireplace packages, gas fireplace installations in Swanley, inset stove installations, chimney modifications, the installation of chimney cowls, cast iron fireplaces in Swanley, bespoke fireplaces in Swanley, chimney lining in Swanley, fake fireplace installation in Swanley, brick fireplace installations in Swanley, fireplace removal in Swanley, fireplace replacement, fake fireplaces, freestanding stoves, and more. These are just a selection of the tasks that are accomplished by tradesmen installing fireplaces. Swanley specialists will let you know their whole range of fireplace related services.
Skip Hire Swanley
Taking care of the waste which is produced when engaged in home renovations or improvements in Swanley, is one of the big problems with undertaking this sort of project. Your particular fireplace installations may generate very little waste, and then again it might produce a lot. Depending on who you hire to do the work, some tradesmen will include waste removal in the job quote and will be happy to dispose of it for you.
The easiest way to dispose of this waste is to hire a skip. Skips come in many different sizes, so you should be able to get one which is suitable for you. Almost all skip hire providers in Swanley offer skip bags, mini-skips, midi-skips, builders skips and even roll-on roll-off skips for different domestic and commercial applications.
To get prices for all the different sizes of skip GO HERE.
Searching On the Internet
When looking for any sort of tradesmen and services in this day and age, the majority of folks in Swanley seem to head immediately online to simply "Google it". On the spot and useful results are the main reward of searching with Bing, Ask, Yahoo or Google, which were created for this exact intent. Frequently the page one listings given aren't exactly what you'd anticipated when making use of these types of search engines. In this particular situation you'll be keying in something along the lines of "fireplace installation Swanley", "Swanley fireplace installation", "fireplace installation near me" or "fireplace installation in Swanley" to track down the ideal individual.
If you study the first page of results, you will probably notice that the top and bottom 4 listings will usually be some form of "pay per click" adverts, while most of the rest will be for large lead creation websites such as Quotatis, My Hammer, Checkatrade, Local Heroes, TrustaTrader or Rated People or web directories like Yelp, Yell, Cyclex or Three Best Rated. If you navigate to the second or third pages of the search engine listings you'll maybe stand a greater chance of finding websites belonging to genuine fireplace installers nearby. Consequently you'll have to dig deeper to discover those. If you can't uncover anyone suitable in the search results, it is okay to use one or more of the trademan vetting portals like Local Heroes or Rated People, where you can receive free price quotes, study reviews and check out client feedback.
Fireplace Installers Near Swanley
Also find: Eynsford fireplace installers, Lullingstone fireplace installers, Horton Kirby fireplace installers, Maplescombe fireplace installers, Kevintown fireplace installers, Farningham fireplace installers, Fawkham fireplace installers, Chislehurst fireplace installers, Chelsfield fireplace installers, Questor fireplace installers, Darenth fireplace installers, Crockenhill fireplace installers, Pinden fireplace installers, St Mary Cray fireplace installers and more. There are companies who install fireplaces in practically all of these towns and villages. Possessing the necessary experience and know-how, these versatile tradesmen can successfully install fireplaces in your home. The assistance and help of these dedicated experts allows residents to enjoy the comfort, warmth, and inviting atmosphere of a fireplace in their living areas. Local residents can get estimates by simply going here. Need a new fireplace? Get a quote today, and don't delay!
Fireplace Services Swanley
- Swanley Electric Fireplaces
- Swanley Fireplace Estimates
- Swanley Gas Fireplaces
- Swanley Fireplace Installers
- Swanley Stone Fireplaces
- Swanley Wood Burning Fireplaces
- Swanley Fireplace Fitters
- Swanley Marble Fireplaces
- Swanley Fireplace Mantels
- Swanley Fireplace Installation Services
- Swanley Brick Fireplaces
- Swanley Fireplace Surrounds
- Swanley Victorian Fireplaces
- Swanley Fireplace Repair
More Swanley Tradespeople: Okay, so you're currently in search of fireplace specialists in Swanley, but you may also need a painter and decorator in Swanley, a roofing contractor in Swanley, a plasterer in Swanley, a carpenter and joiner in Swanley, a cleaner in Swanley, an electrician in Swanley, a floor fitter in Swanley, a building contractor in Swanley, a chimney sweep in Swanley, waste removal in Swanley, a bricklayer in Swanley, a tiler in Swanley, SKIP HIRE in Swanley, a handyman in Swanley, a heating engineer in Swanley, a stonemason in Swanley, when carrying out any home improvement work in Swanley, Kent.
Fireplaces Swanley
Fireplace Fitter Near Swanley
Fireplace Installation SwanleyFireplace installation in BR8 area, telephone code 01322.
Fireplace Design Swanley - 01322 - Domestic Fireplaces Swanley - Gas Fireplace Swanley - Fireplace Installation Services Swanley - Fireplace Ideas Swanley - Fireplaces Swanley - Fireplace Installers Swanley - Fireplace Swanley