Hi, hoping for some reassurance from someone who is more knowledgeable than me about chimneys/flues etc. Apologies in advance for the essay. We are renovating our 1930s semi and I've just been re-reading our asbestos management survey. It was incredibly stressful buying the house and I think I was just relieved they didn't find anything major - so I suppose I just glossed over this part and forgot about it:
'No access was possible within the chimney breast associated with this property and previous
experience of similar properties to this that may once of had a back-boiler heating system
would suggest that it is likely that an asbestos soffit panel is likely to exist around the flue
pipe.'
Anyway, as I said, I didn't really pay close attention to this at the time (regretting it now). Our fireplace was blocked up & had a gas fire fitted on the outside. We had the gas capped, opened up the fireplace and didn't find anything except one narrow pipe at floor level (gas supply?). You can see it in IMG_5160 if you look closely. Nothing could be seen by looking up into the chimney, but admittedly we didn't do a very thorough investigation. We had a new concrete lintel and woodburning stove installed by registered fitters, including a new flue liner.
My question is, would they have been able to fit the flue liner if there was a soffit remaining in the flue from a previous back burner? Surely this would have been a significant obstruction? No issues were mentioned on the day, and no notable debris ie. cracked boards came out of the chimney.
Does anyone have experience of this type of panel from removing a back boiler themselves? (and knows how high up it would be fitted?)
I've attached pictures of the fireplace when we were knocking it out. And a diagram which I think shows what this panel would look like on a back boiler(?)
I hope this makes sense, appreciate there probably isn't a set 'answer' just maybe hoping for some discussion that could put my mind at rest.
'No access was possible within the chimney breast associated with this property and previous
experience of similar properties to this that may once of had a back-boiler heating system
would suggest that it is likely that an asbestos soffit panel is likely to exist around the flue
pipe.'
Anyway, as I said, I didn't really pay close attention to this at the time (regretting it now). Our fireplace was blocked up & had a gas fire fitted on the outside. We had the gas capped, opened up the fireplace and didn't find anything except one narrow pipe at floor level (gas supply?). You can see it in IMG_5160 if you look closely. Nothing could be seen by looking up into the chimney, but admittedly we didn't do a very thorough investigation. We had a new concrete lintel and woodburning stove installed by registered fitters, including a new flue liner.
My question is, would they have been able to fit the flue liner if there was a soffit remaining in the flue from a previous back burner? Surely this would have been a significant obstruction? No issues were mentioned on the day, and no notable debris ie. cracked boards came out of the chimney.
Does anyone have experience of this type of panel from removing a back boiler themselves? (and knows how high up it would be fitted?)
I've attached pictures of the fireplace when we were knocking it out. And a diagram which I think shows what this panel would look like on a back boiler(?)
I hope this makes sense, appreciate there probably isn't a set 'answer' just maybe hoping for some discussion that could put my mind at rest.
