Not sure where to post this so I'll put it here,
We have recently purchased a new house and are in the process of renovation.
We plan to have a wood burner in the front lounge, there is a large breast in the lounge and this continues through the house to a solid chimney etc.
The problem we have is that when the installer came to install the liner, he couldn't get it all the way down. Luckily he could call on a sweep friend with a camera kit.
What they found is that the chimney has been partially blocked by the building work that the next-door neighbours (previous owners - about 25 years ago) had done in knocking out their side of the breast.
This wasn't obvious from our ground level as the house is sited on a hill so their ground floor is about 1m above ours also the overhanging blocks are higher up in the wall.
The installer is not keen to install without a liner (neither am I) as it doesn't look very well sealed and would be difficult to sweep.
They appear to have narrowed the chimney by a couple of inches only but it is enough to prevent the liner from passing down.
I have attached a couple of pictures looking up the chimney toward the blockage, you can see the cone on the liner on the far side of the blocks.
The question is; What can I do about this?
The neighbours seem friendly enough, but I don't now how they'd take a suggestion to remove their dining room wall!
Could I attack the overhang from my side without compromising their wall?
Any suggestions welcome, this site has been so useful to me so far, this is my first house and the knowledge and advise here is great.
Cheers View media item 83345
We have recently purchased a new house and are in the process of renovation.
We plan to have a wood burner in the front lounge, there is a large breast in the lounge and this continues through the house to a solid chimney etc.
The problem we have is that when the installer came to install the liner, he couldn't get it all the way down. Luckily he could call on a sweep friend with a camera kit.
What they found is that the chimney has been partially blocked by the building work that the next-door neighbours (previous owners - about 25 years ago) had done in knocking out their side of the breast.
This wasn't obvious from our ground level as the house is sited on a hill so their ground floor is about 1m above ours also the overhanging blocks are higher up in the wall.
The installer is not keen to install without a liner (neither am I) as it doesn't look very well sealed and would be difficult to sweep.
They appear to have narrowed the chimney by a couple of inches only but it is enough to prevent the liner from passing down.
I have attached a couple of pictures looking up the chimney toward the blockage, you can see the cone on the liner on the far side of the blocks.
The question is; What can I do about this?
The neighbours seem friendly enough, but I don't now how they'd take a suggestion to remove their dining room wall!
Could I attack the overhang from my side without compromising their wall?
Any suggestions welcome, this site has been so useful to me so far, this is my first house and the knowledge and advise here is great.
Cheers View media item 83345