Wood Burner Installation

[DodgeeDave]

I'm looking in to the possibility of getting our old 1960s fireplace converted to a wood burning stove. I went to a local (to Camberley) supplier and they do a basic all-in package for £4k. They were very friendly and helpful and have had been recommended to my wife by people down the road , but £4k seems steep for a one maybe two day job (I'm guessing mantel, hearth, stove, flu etc will be £2.0k -£2.5k max so remaining £1.5k for install). They only really deal with "Newman" fireplaces & stoves for which I can't find any reviews for (but they are able to supply other brands at higher cost)and they would want 50% up front on order, the remainder on job completion.

Being new to this stove sort of stuff I wondered if any one in the area could recommend a good company for wood burner installation, what the ball park price was and if they had to pay a substantial deposit??

Cheers

[Bebee]

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

[aycee]

I think you need building regs approval or signed off by competent person. £4k fitted might include a load of work you don't realise is required.

[DodgeeDave]

Thanks for the replies. My search hadn't revealed that thread... plenty of info to digest.

[bigdom]

When we had ours installed, seemed to be a lack of companies to provide a turn key solution. In the end we used a local builder to open the existing hole, in hindsight, we could have done this ourselves.

We arranged for the hearth as was more cost effective. I seem to remember we paid at the end of installation, total job came in under 3k including 2 lintels (concrete & 8" oak beam) stove, hearth, outside air vent, liner & cowl and building regs etc.

For the burner we used here - http://www.naturalflamesltd.co.uk/

Have a look around at the style you want (other local companies in Chobham &Woking), and then review against - http://www.whatstove.co.uk/

The price of burners can vary greatly. You want a stove with decent air controls and ease of use, some are overtly fussy.

[Mad March Taffy]

We got a guy who specialised in installing fireplaces to make the hole and install the stove/flue/lintel and marble surround. We sourced the stove online and saved a lot compared with a 'turnkey' solution - supposed specialised stores were really expensive. We were lucky that we did not need a full height flue pipe as the current chimney was good enough. It cost about £1000 plus the stove all in. It really paid to shop around for the stove as prices varied greatly for the same thing - you could pay almost double the price depending on the source. Do remember to check if your stove burns wood only or if you can also use other fuels.