Be it an open fire, stove or roomheater, the leaping flames and glowing coals are the real heart of the home. However for any fire to work successfully, it must be connected to a sound chimney and correctly sized flue.

The functions of a chimney are to safely remove the products of combustion from the fireplace or appliance to outside without causing danger to the occupants of the house or setting the house itself on fire.

A chimney works because hot air rises and always moves from high to low pressure. Factors such as running the appliance at a very slow rate or cold air leaking into the flue will cool the gases and affect the performance of the chimney. In houses built since the introduction of 1965 Building Regulations, all flues must be built with liners during their construction. This is usually done with clay liners, which should last the life of the building.

However in houses built prior to 1965, lining was less common. Flues were usually parged in the inside with lime mortar. This parging suffers attack from acids and tars produced during combustion and gradually deteriorate. The flue is then in poor condition, often leaking fumes or tars into the walls or other parts of the building.

Sadly many houses built since 1965 suffer similar problems due to badly installed flue liners and need further attention. If you don’t have a proper brick built chimney you can still have a real fire by using twin wall insulated flue. These are stainless flues surrounded by insulation and finished with an outer skin of stainless.

Twin wall flue systems can be placed through an external wall and up the outside of the house or they can run indoors through lower and upper ceilings. These can then be boxed in with a timber frame, plasterboard and emulsioned or wallpapered or they can be incorporated into fitted wardrobes.

In general our engineers carry out a complete and comprehensive flue and chimney service. Our expert installers all have the know-how and experience to install and maintain all aspects of flues and chimneys without any problems.