The lower part of the chimney breast in this Victorian property had been removed and replaced with a modern red brick fireplace with a gas fire. There isn't really a lot that can be done with this apart from remove it all and build a new one in the Victorian style.

The fireplace has now been rebuilt by Fotheringhay Woodburners' recommended builder with a new steel arch support. The walls have been plastered on the outside of the chimney breast and rendered on the internal faces of the aperture. The stone hearth has been laid and just needs to be pointed up.

The original Victorian chimney is in reasonable condition at the bottom with the parging still reasonably intact although it will need to be scraped clean. This chimney will not be suitable for a new efficient multifuel stove as the flue gases are too hot and will cause it to deteriorate very rapidly which could cause it to leak fumes into the property. It is also too large and will affect how efficiently the stove burns and how well the burn rate can be controlled.

We need to erect scaffolding for this chimney as the photographs show that the brickwork on the higher sections of the chimney will need to be repointed. The scaffolding had to bridge the single storey extension first with an intermediate working platform before the main working platform which is all the way around the top of the chimney. The electricity supply cables to the property are on this gable end too and so the electricity supply company were organised to shield them and insulate the metal connections so that there is no danger of electric shock or damaging the cables.

As can be seen the chimney brickwork will need to be repointed and there is a lot of cement based mortar to be removed from the top of the chimney stack as well as two disused gas cowls. The top courses of brickwork are too bad to be left and after discussion with our client these will be removed and rebuilt with new matching bricks where necessary.

This shows just how bad the brickwork can get as it ages and weathers. Some of these bricks have been repaired before as you can see where the mortar is in the middle of the bricks. This will all be repaired and replaced by our builder.

The chimney has been repaired and repointed by our recommended builder and the new chimney lining has been installed. The chimney lining passes through the taller chimney pot and is insulated here to keep the lining warm as the top section will be the coldest part of the chimney. The insulation minimises the risk of condensing tars and sooty deposits building up here and restricting the flue. A stainless steel chimney pot hanger and birdguard cowl are fitted on top. The other disused chimneys have shorter chimney pots and ventilating caps to keep out the water and birds and allow the flues to breathe.

The new efficient DEFRA approved Charnwood Country 4 multifuel stove is now installed in the new fireplace. Our HETAS registered engineer is testing the stove and explaining to our clients how to use it and ongoing maintenance requirements as part of the Fotheringhay Woodburners commissioning process.