Hello all.
I'd like to get the fireplace in our new house set up for burning wood. Currently there's just the bare brick chimney and tiled hearth which seems to all be in decent order. I don't want a surround or anything because I don't think it'd go nicely with the exposed brick chimney breast. Can I get away with just putting in a fire basket (plus guard, I suppose) or are any of the other bits actually essential?
Ta, and apologies for my ignorance.
In my experience you don't need a basket. The wood sits on an ever-growing layer of ash and burns very well, with a basket hot ashes fall through and can fall outwards onto the hearth.
Mary
A fireback is advisable. I burnt about 1/2" of my reclaimed tudor bricks befoe getting one.
Otherwise a grate is enough (0r even just a fire laid rght on the hearth) PROVIDED the chimney and flue is of good construction. I'd do a smoke test to make sure its sound - hot gasses leaping into your roof timbers are not good - and also light a test fire to check whether the chimny smokes. If the fireplace aperture is less than 5 times the area of the flue, and it all tapers away nicely, it shouldn't. Otherwise you may need a smoke hood to throttle the fireplace aperture and get a bit more draught
A lot depends on teh fireplace design. A good high draw chimney doesn't nee the extra draw you get from a grate, but a lazier stack may benefit.
I find the chances of a log rolling of the grateless ashpile exceed the chances of the ash spilling outwards frankly, but them's the logs I have! :-)
At the miniumum a fireback, I'd say.
Building regs require a whole pile of work with the chimney. hotline chimneys (have a web site) were very good for me.
Rick
Right-o, thanks.
I did test it by burning a bunch of old newspapers. There were occasional wisps of smoke visible coming out of the chimney but not even a trace of the burning smell inside the house so I figured it was all ok. Probably a good idea to have a sniff in the loft too - ta for pointing that out!
As for the fireback, are the ones that you get as a built in part of the fire basket adequate, with them only being around a foot high or so?
cheers
Not necessarily, if what is there is useable and has been used in the past.
You need to line for stoves and appliances, but not for open fires - here uou MUST have a BIG flue or it will smoke. Eben on a new build all I had to do was line with cermaic blocks and freproof cement. And keep all woodwork clear of the flue stack
Dunno what yours has. We have two enormous inglenooks, and burn wood. The brick damage is up to about a foot above grate level. So we have about 18" of cast iron propped up there now. Well its 2'6"" but teh grate is about 9" above hearth etc.
I remember lighting a coal fire in a top floor flat in London once, and, coming back from the pub, seeing a dull red glow from the solid brick wall OUTSIDE the flat...:)
I have melted many a grate in my time too. White hot is possible with coal.
Wood in a more lazy chimney is not as hot.
Coal in a well desined victirian flue.grae combo is massively hot.
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