Charlesland Wood - open fire / stove

ellejay

Hi All
Just wondering has anyone taken out their gas fire and used the open fire or installed a stove?
We're in a 2bed terraced house, we find the gas fire very expensive to run with little heat output.
Any information appreciated.
Thanks in advance,
Lj.

dr ro

Don't know about the wood but in the court the fireplaces don't have flues. Are you sure there is a chimney flue.

ellejay

Thanks DR Ro
No I don't know if chimney has flue actually.
I guess i'll have to get a builder in to take a look, I wouldn't even know what a flue looks like.

Blandpebbles

No flue and no real chimney.. Plasterboard isn't a great fire retardant

pixbyjohn

ellejay wrote: »

Thanks DR Ro
No I don't know if chimney has flue actually.
I guess i'll have to get a builder in to take a look, I wouldn't even know what a flue looks like.

Just to explain, a lot of new houses now have gas fires in the sittingrooms with a false chimney breast. There is no real chimney at all. A lot of people have taken out the gas fire and some have actually removed the false chimney breast to give more space in the sittingroom. Does your house have a chimney stack/pot on your roof ?

Eponymous

That's the laughable thing John, they have chimneys on the roof, but not all have the chimney on the same side of the house as the fireplace - as in the chimney isn't above the fire. It's all purely cosmetic.

Robertr

Surely their is some kind of channel for the fumes from the gas fire to be extracted? Would that not be dangerous?

ellejay

Thanks PixbyJohn and Eponymous
There is a chimney pot at the top alright, and a plastic red/orange "hat" coming out of the chimneypot.

I went up to the attic to see if there's a chimney breast, but complicated again.

There's a skylight in the attic roof, this skylight is surrounded / tunnelled by wooden boards to direct light to skylight in the bathroom, directly under the skylight in the attic roof. - i'm not sure if I've explained this properly.

If there is a chimney breast, it looks like it would be in this tunnell.
I don't know if all the houses here have that set up, or if it's just this one.
I can't see what's in that tunnell without taking the boards down.

It's an awful shame if it's all cosmetic.
If no chimney breast, I wonder can we get a flue installed from sittingroom to chimney pot.

ellejay

Robertr wrote: »

Surely their is some kind of channel for the fumes from the gas fire to be extracted? Would that not be dangerous?

That's what I was thinking, that's why I assumed it would be easy to do!

Eponymous

They're fluless fires as discussed in another thread here (the one about boiler maintenance). There are two vents in the room instead, one about a foot off the floor and another just below ceiling level.

pixbyjohn

Robertr wrote: »

Surely their is some kind of channel for the fumes from the gas fire to be extracted? Would that not be dangerous?

No, that is why the vents in the wall are so so important to be open.
Of course it is not ideal and hot air and fumes rise so the safest escape would be up a real chimney. But modern building and planning do not always follow the tried and tested methods.
Charlesland appears to have so many problems according to what we see on threads here.

Millers02

pixbyjohn wrote: »

Charlesland appears to have so many problems according to what we see on threads here.

Seriously?

The OP doesn't have a problem, per se - s/he was asking if something is possible. The fact that it isn't doesn't mean there is a problem with his/her house.

pixbyjohn

Millers02 wrote: »

Seriously?

The OP doesn't have a problem, per se - s/he was asking if something is possible. The fact that it isn't doesn't mean there is a problem with his/her house.

I didn't say ellejay had a problem but reading through the Greystones and Charlesland threads there are many problems cited.

tp25

pixbyjohn wrote: »

I didn't say ellejay had a problem but reading through the Greystones and Charlesland threads there are many problems cited.

which newly built houses doesn't have the problems?

first 5-10 years people fix what builders/contractors messed up

No offence to anyone but the best buy is the house which is already 5-10 years old

Blandpebbles

Speak to Fred he will gladly tell you just what is wrong with any house or apartment in Charlesland. He worked on them during construction. Most issues come from reducing budgets applied by builders and higher prices charged to make more profit.

Everything from badly plumbed heating to exploding boilers.

audreyp

The houses in Charlesland are fine, I have had no problems bar wear and tear which is normal. I consider myself very lucky as my sister is in an estate in Asbourne with Pyrite in the foundation.

Charlesland is a great place to live (in my opinion anyway!)

Millers02

Blandpebbles wrote: »

Speak to Fred he will gladly tell you just what is wrong with any house or apartment in Charlesland. He worked on them during construction. Most issues come from reducing budgets applied by builders and higher prices charged to make more profit.

Everything from badly plumbed heating to exploding boilers.

Not certain how charging a higher price for a house causes it to have problems but have to say we, our neighbours and anyone I know living here most have lucked out completely as I know no one who has had any problems with the fundamentals of their house.

Heaven forbid that anyone who doesn't live here would have to say something positive about the place or concede that it's actually a very nice place to live.

Millers02

pixbyjohn wrote: »

I didn't say ellejay had a problem but reading through the Greystones and Charlesland threads there are many problems cited.

Then why mention 'many problems' in a thread when no problems were mentioned or even alluded to?

pixbyjohn

Millers02 wrote: »

Then why mention 'many problems' in a thread when no problems were mentioned or even alluded to?

Aww cop on

pixbyjohn

Just 1 example of complaint, there are many more through the threads.
Not my words, don't blame the messenger.

decokiernan wrote: »

Its very enlightening to speak with the Maintenance Man for the apartments. He will tell you how only the first 2 blocks of apartments were connected correctly in terms of heating and water.

I recently discovered that the top up tap wasnt connected to the heating so the pressure couldnt be topped up when needed.

Thanks to him for fixing for free.

Basically he says the duplexes are a pile of crap and he spends most of his day fixing cracks and heating systems.

Same goes for the houses.

We viewed 4 houses in C'Land and found this to be true.

Millers02

pixbyjohn wrote: »

Just 1 example of complaint, there are many more through the threads.
Not my words, don't blame the messenger.

You're missing the point - whether or not other people have or have not had problems isn't what I'm commenting about.

I'm calling you up on the fact that the OP wasn't complaining in any way about any problem to do with his/her house - so why do you feel it is necessary to mention that there are 'many problems'? Any chance to be negative.

IBTL

pixbyjohn

Millers02 wrote: »

You're missing the point - whether or not other people have or have not had problems isn't what I'm commenting about.

I'm calling you up on the fact that the OP wasn't complaining in any way about any problem to do with his/her house - so why do you feel it is necessary to mention that there are 'many problems'? Any chance to be negative.

IBTL

OK OK I take back what I said. There are no problems with any of the houses in Charlesland. My humblest apologies.

Annasopra

Millers02 wrote: »

You're missing the point - whether or not other people have or have not had problems isn't what I'm commenting about.

I'm calling you up on the fact that the OP wasn't complaining in any way about any problem to do with his/her house - so why do you feel it is necessary to mention that there are 'many problems'? Any chance to be negative.

IBTL

If you feel strongly that someones posts are inappropriate then please use the report post button. In this case though I don't see any problems in Johns posts but maybe if you and John still have issues then pm each other

Maudi

ellejay wrote: »

Hi All
Just wondering has anyone taken out their gas fire and used the open fire or installed a stove?
We're in a 2bed terraced house, we find the gas fire very expensive to run with little heat output.
Any information appreciated.
Thanks in advance,
Lj.

Hi.the firebreas in the houses are fake/wood frame and plasterboard..the gas fires itself we NEVER use..there has been a few threads here about the fumes and smells from the appliance..go up to the front bedroom where the chimney stack should continue up thtough the house..it doesent..in the attice thats just a plasterboard light tunnel down to the bathroom..it should be wrapped in insulation (the tunnel) as you enter your attic. above your head on your right.you should see four rows of blocks supporting the fake chimney and fake pots..personally i think while theres a few niggley problems..most of the first phase houses are well built and comfortable..and the people in charlesland are very friendly.polite and courteous.and the manage company do a top job..i.m.o

FirstIn

I guess you could get a proper fire installed, I remember my folks getting a new fire, we're talking 30 years ago. It was in a room which didn't have a fire before so it meant building a new chimney breast and chimney etc.

It worked well but didn't have enough "draw" so they had to get a pipe/tunnel from under the hearth to the outside wall. That made a big difference.

Anyhow, to do the same now would be costly, (Dad's best mate was a builder, Paddy Redmond, so it probably didn't cost so much then). You also have to remember the storage of coal/logs/briquettes and cleaning.

Honestly!

pixbyjohn wrote: »

OK OK I take back what I said. There are no problems with any of the houses in Charlesland. My humblest apologies.

You jumped in on a thread without knowing what it was about and were corrected...not a very mature reaction to being corrected!

If the OP does install an open fireplace and lights it you can rest happy as part of Charlesland will burn! This IS NOT A FAULT! The gas fires are condensor units completely surrounded by plasterboard. All breasts etc. are cosmetic only and the chimney pots are fibre glass.

BM Durkan who built Charlesland Grove and Park left some residents with problems and I found them to be the most ignorant people to deal with but this appears to be par for the course, cerainly for Durkans, but also for many arrogant developers, set up as gods by the Irish media and Fianna Fail - Fine Gael councillors during the Septic Tiger years. But the houses are for the most part structurally sound and thanks to the residents committee from past years, Durkan was forced to fix some problems. They do need to be held to account for others...just like many developments in the country. I would not recommend anyone buy a new house from BM Durkan, though there have been far worse such as Priory Hall.

pixbyjohn

ellejay wrote: »

Hi All
Just wondering has anyone taken out their gas fire and used the open fire or installed a stove?
We're in a 2bed terraced house, we find the gas fire very expensive to run with little heat output.
Any information appreciated.
Thanks in advance,
Lj.

dr ro wrote: »

Don't know about the wood but in the court the fireplaces don't have flues. Are you sure there is a chimney flue.

ellejay wrote: »

Thanks DR Ro
No I don't know if chimney has flue actually.
I guess i'll have to get a builder in to take a look, I wouldn't even know what a flue looks like.

Blandpebbles wrote: »

No flue and no real chimney.. Plasterboard isn't a great fire retardant

pixbyjohn wrote: »

Just to explain, a lot of new houses now have gas fires in the sittingrooms with a false chimney breast. There is no real chimney at all. A lot of people have taken out the gas fire and some have actually removed the false chimney breast to give more space in the sittingroom. Does your house have a chimney stack/pot on your roof ?

Honestly, I don't know what you are on about but you appear to be ranting a lot over the past 24 hours.

Annasopra

Honestly/Pixbyjohn - Quit having a go at each other. Take it to pm.

recedite

Honestly! wrote: »

You jumped in on a thread without knowing what it was about and were corrected...not a very mature reaction to being corrected!

If the OP does install an open fireplace and lights it you can rest happy as part of Charlesland will burn! This IS NOT A FAULT! The gas fires are condensor units completely surrounded by plasterboard. All breasts etc. are cosmetic only and the chimney pots are fibre glass.

Finding out that the chimney is a fake is a "problem" for anyone (such as the OP) who wants to fit a stove. Maybe not a "fault" technically.
The fires are not condensing fires. Just flueless, like a portable "super-ser" is.