Uncovered fireplace in new house - a little advice needed

[Cret]

Hi everyone

I hope this is ok in this part of the forum as I could not see an area it should really be in (unless it's central heating?!).

The mrs and I bought a bungalow about 6 months ago which had a really nasty old gas fire in the front room which has now been disconnected and removed. Now behind it there is a fireplace that appears to be in excellent condition and I want to be able to have fires but I want to make sure everything is ok first.

1st question is a mate of mine who is a plumber claims that the chimney pots are different depending on what kind of 'fire' is below (eg woodburner, open fire, gas fire etc). Is this rubbish and will the existing one be ok, or do I need to get someone in to look at them and advise?

2nd question - I don't have sweep rods so is there a way I can check if the chimney is clear and ok to use, or again, do I need to get someone in to give it the all clear?

Thanks in advance for any help
Jim

 

[Scrit]

We've been looking at taking out a gas fire in the living room and putting in a wood burner. I've been advised to have the chimney swept and to consider getting a flue liner, but obviously because the gas fire vents at the rear into the existing chimney we know that it can't be blocked (or we'd have died from CO2 asphyxiation). In our case the firebricks are still in place. How about yours?

Scrit