Since forever a dry fine golden dust has to be swept off the hearth every day. My parents had a new fireplace installed in the 1960s (!). It was never used for coal fires, they just put an electric fire in the gap.
As I say, the dust is dry, like very fine grain sand really. It's the same colour as the masonry (sorry, don't know the technical term) at the back of the grate area. It's a really small amount of dust but it's a pain having to clear it up every day.
A builder has said the answer is to go up on the roof and put on a cowl, which I guess means a chimney pot also as the old one was removed some years after the fireplace was installed. The quote is for nearly £400.
I'm not convinced that would be the answer and the problem would seem to be internal. You never hear anything falling down. Would sealing the flue at the fireplace end be a solution or is the builder's way the only answer?
Thanks in advance for any advice.
As I say, the dust is dry, like very fine grain sand really. It's the same colour as the masonry (sorry, don't know the technical term) at the back of the grate area. It's a really small amount of dust but it's a pain having to clear it up every day.
A builder has said the answer is to go up on the roof and put on a cowl, which I guess means a chimney pot also as the old one was removed some years after the fireplace was installed. The quote is for nearly £400.
I'm not convinced that would be the answer and the problem would seem to be internal. You never hear anything falling down. Would sealing the flue at the fireplace end be a solution or is the builder's way the only answer?
Thanks in advance for any advice.
from the parging inside the chimney - ie. rough render. Seal @ bottom But leave a vent hole in - to ventilate the chimney. Must be West Sussex for those prices 
