Open fire help please

[ukpaul2011]

Hi all

To cut a long story short i have just moved into a house with a open fire ,we had to have the old back boiler out so we could use the fire for coal/logs.
had a bloke round to rip the back boiler out and to fill in the hole he used a breeze block and then Cement over it,he said leave it 3 or 4 days untill i use the fire which i did,now after 8 or 9 fires the cement has fell off and now i can see just the breeze block,my question is what can i use to put over it instead of cement ,which can take the heat and wont fall off after a few weeks.


Thanks
paul

 

[Richard C]

The bloke you had around is an idiot, you can’t use lightweight blocks to form a fire opening, you need to construct a proper fireback.

I assume the “bloke” wasn’t HETAS registered & didn’t give you a certificate of compliance! What he’s done is controlled building work & should be carried out by a registered HETAS installer or notified, inspected & certified by LABC. I would urge you to get advice from someone who knows what they are doing.

 

[ukpaul2011]

The bloke you had around is an idiot, you can’t use lightweight blocks to form a fire opening, you need to construct a proper fireback.

I assume the “bloke” wasn’t HETAS registered & didn’t give you a certificate of compliance! What he’s done is controlled building work & should be carried out by a registered HETAS installer or notified, inspected & certified by LABC. I would urge you to get advice from someone who knows what they are doing.

Hi
many thanks for your reply, does this mean i cant use the fire,because at the moment am having it lit every evening
its a rented house and the land lord was moaning that he had to get somone out to sort it in the first place,

 

[Richard C]

I would not advise it, the blocks will eventually disintegrate. As it’s not your property & your landlord commisioned the work, you don’t need to give a rats asre about possible damage to his property but I’m more concerned about your personal safety if the fire back has not been properly installed & tested; carbon monoxide kills quickly & silently!

Recommisioning a sloid fuel fire is notifyable builing work & should be carried out by a registered HETAS installer or inspected, tested & certified as safe by your local authority building control (LABC). Your landlord should know better & as he’s renting, he may even have broken the law.

 

[ukpaul2011]

I would not advise it, the blocks will eventually disintegrate. As it’s not your property & your landlord commisioned the work, you don’t need to give a rats asre about possible damage to his property but I’m more concerned about your personal safety if the fire back has not been properly installed & tested; carbon monoxide kills quickly & silently!

Recommisioning a sloid fuel fire is notifyable builing work & should be carried out by a registered HETAS installer or inspected, tested & certified as safe by your local authority building control (LABC). Your landlord should know better & as he’s renting, he may even have broken the law.

hi richard
Many thanks for your advice , even tho i had to pay out to get a registered person in he has sorted it out with fire bricks and fire cement,and also tested it all


paul

 

[Richard C]

Good result then; it's best to be safe but I think your landlord is on dodgy ground anyway & I'd bill him for the extra cost

 

[ukpaul2011]

Good result then; it's best to be safe but I think your landlord is on dodgy ground anyway & I'd bill him for the extra cost

Yes all good now,like you say its best to stay safe even more so with my 18 month old baby.
thanks again for your help and advice

paul