So you have come to fit a marble or stone fireplace mantel and your not sure what to use you can use grap adhesives such as white gripfill etc but most professional fireplace fitters use a product called marble glue.
Very similar to Araldite it is a twin pack glue with a hardener which is mixed to around 3% this will allow the glue to set in around 30 minutes so it has time for last minute adjustments as the mantel is assembled.
We have decided to sell this “trade secret” on our website as we have fireplace fitters who purchase this from us as its generally not available off the shelf.
In the past we have also made pretty invisible repairs in limestone and marble as when mixed with the dust from these stones forms a great filler which is nearly identical in colour.
So its not essential to use this adhesive as explained before as grab adhesives these days are so strong but if you want to use the same products as to what our fireplace fitters use you do have the choice too.
After using on your fireplace mantel it can be also used on other stone products and ceramics so its a very handy product to keep in the shed for alternative uses not justy for your new fireplace.

A stupid question i know and the answer really lies in the questions it is a gas liner you have and you want to connect a solid fuel or multi fuel stove to it.
Im afraid the answer is a BIG NO it will work for a very short period of time until the liner breaks ups and the fumes escape, yes gas liners are made of stainless steel but they are only single skin and thats the problem they are not designed to be used with higher temps of solid fuel gases.
Another problem for your stove to work correctly unless it is a DEFRA Approved Stove is the fact that it will need to run a 6″ flue liner to make it function correctly.
So the answer is to remove the liner completely and either have chimney swept and pressure tested and rely on the original chimney breast or drop down a new 6″ Chimney Lining Kit there not expensive at £325 and you can then rest assured everything will work correctly.
Please do not be tempted to try using the gas liner it will not work and once damaged toxic smoke will not be able to escape the chimney and will seep into your home.
If in doubt get it checked by a profesional fireplace installer they will tell you what will work safely.

THIS IS A GUIDE SENT TO US BY ONE OF CUSTOMERS CASTFIREPLACES STRONGLY SUGGEST USING A PROFESSIONAL REGISTERED FIREPLACE INSTALLER

Dear Mark,

I would like to thank you and your staff for supplying my new fireplace so promptly.

It arrived exactly on time and the delivery crew were polite and helpful.

The installation went well and it looks superb.

On estimation I have saved at least £1,000 by using you’re company.

I would highly recommend CASTFIREPLACES.CO.UK to anyone who is thinking of having a new fireplace.

Although I completed the fireplace installation myself this is not the type of job for every one as there is a lot of preparation required and regulations to comply with.

I have included some photographs of the basic stages for this project

STAGE 1
Remove old fireplace and prepare chimney-breast, builders opening to accept new fireplace.

STAGE 2
Mark centre lines, make good the fire back as required by building regulations.

STAGE 3
Cast a new cement fire hearth base raised above floor level and build two brick supports and arch to accept new cast fireplace, ( keyed to existing brickwork ).

STAGE 4
Install Granite hearth and key to existing floor as required, Install Cast Fireplace and seal to brick supports using a high temperature silicone.

It is advisable to fit a small securing clip either side of the cast fireplace plate for support during assembly.

The fire surround and mantle can now be assembled and secured to the brick supports as required.

STAGE 5
Sit back with a nice drink and admire you’re new fantastic looking fireplace.

IF you do not feel that this is a job for you, then get a professional installer to do it, you will still save hundreds of pounds.

From Ron Edkins

A very thankful and satisfied customer of CASTFIREPLACES.CO.UK

A customer we sent a fireplace too in Poland emailed me a few weeks ago about a rust problem he was having on the Henley Fireplace he bought from us he has kindly taken the time to write an email as to why it happened and if it would be any help to anybody in th UK suffering rust problems with the fireplace.

Hi Mark,
I thought I’d write a quick email to explain why the fireplace got rust – the same reason may be applicable in the UK, now that everyone is building passive houses and so on.
In Poland, new houses are built with one skin of blockwork, typically 25cm thick, which is covered with a 12-20cm coat of polystyrene to add extra insulation. With double glazed windows and draught-proof doors etc, modern houses are essentially passive which causes a problem if the house only has passive stack/gravitational ventilation.
What happened in our case, was that we had ventilation problems with not enough air entering the building and air was being drawn down the gravitational ventilation piping rather then up it as a result. So in the effort of making all these ‘one-way’ the only way the house could draw air in was down the chimney. It was a cold winter in Poland, with a few weeks at -15 to -30 degrees and with a badly built fireplace with no backfill (which has to be rectified) the cold air being drawn into the house met the warm air in the house on both sides of the cast iron fireplace causing moisture to form on the surface of the fireplace – hence rust appearing. With that ventilation problem now solved, the fireplace has dried out and will be wire-wooled this summer, resprayed and backfilled. We will also install a damper at the top of the chimney.
I heard that building in the ‘Polish way’ is meant to be more and more popular in the UK and so it might be worth reminding people if they didn’t know (as I didn’t) that they need adequate ventilation to prevent problems. Of course, our house wasn’t built with an independent air supply for the fireplace which would have prevented this problem.

Kind regards,
Simon

As you can see basically there was no external ventilation for the fireplace which is essentila for it being used let alone rusting hope this helps

Here at Castfireplaces we use a couple of fantastic fireplace fitters in London and the South and they are both great fitters and have undertkaen 100s of jobs fitting Fireplaces and Stoves supplied by Castfireplaces.
Both of these fireplace fitters know how good we are here at Castfireplaces and point there customers looking for fireplaces and stoves towards us as they know we deliver ontime and everything will arrive in good order.
Anyway i was chatting to one of them today regarding a fitting job for a customer in North London and they were telling me about a stove supplied by another online company that came with some free flue pipe.
It turns out the flue pipe wall is so thin and lightweight it does not conform to current standards and the HETAS qualified fitter refused to use it.
Ive seen a few firms offering free flue pipe and knew it was basically sub-standard and im now very pleased this has been confirmed by someone we use and who is also a fireplace fitting profesional.
Nothing ever comes for free its all either built into the price or its low grade quality and this particular customer has now found this out to his cost.
So if you do see a stove offered on other websites with free flue pipe the reason its free is because its rubbish and as confirmed by our HETAS registered fitter it can ot be used

So one of the most things we get asked here at Castfireplaces is to whether certain items require a room vent to make the fireplace or stove work correctly.
This applies to gas and solid fuel fires and is determined by a few factors.
With Gas Fires this is measured on the Heat input of a fire and anything over 7KW requires a room vent so the majority of our gas fries for our fireplaces and baskets are rated at 6.5KW so they do not require additional ventilation.
A few of the larger firebaskets and the tradition arch have gas fires that do require a room vent but if you are unsure give us a call or just look in the instruction booklet that came with the gas fire.
Now then onto stoves this is determined by the Heat output and anything capable of prodcuing more than 5KW requires a vent to external air.
Customer get a little confused and think that clean burn stoves do not require a vent but they are covered by the same law im afraid and if they over 5KW they also require a vent.
So if you are unsure as to whether the fireplace or stove you are looking at needs extra ventilation just give us a call and we can check it for you before you order

The dangers of DIY fitting have never been better shown than the photo below i have seen from Matt our local fireplace fitter, Matt is an independant fireplace fitter who we use in our local area and he also does work for a fireplace shop in Nottingham.
Whilst out on another job he was fitting a new stove and took out a granite hearth and firebasket and was horrified as to what he found.
He was showing me this picture whilst doing a landlords certificate for me and i was suprised too by what had been done, this granite hearth had been laid onto a laminate floor with the wooden floor being left underneath.
Now this is ridiculous having a flammable floor underneath a firebasket being used for solid fuel basically the floor had started to burn away and i really am amazed it had not caused a house fire as it had also burnt the floor joists.
This customer was really lucky they decided to change the fireplace otherwsie with a liitle more use the house would have been on fire.
This would never have been done by proper fireplace fitter and just goes to show the real risk of DIY fitting please use a proffesional fireplace fitter when installing your new fireplace or stove

Today whilst at the workshop loading our vans and meeting customers to view our fireplaces i had somebody ring my mobile asking if we could sort a problem out a customer of ours was having fitting a fireplace.
This particular man is local to us and i remember him coming to the showroom and buying a Jubilee Brompton Fireplace Package for solid fuel around a week ago.
The reason i remember him so well is because i gave him our fitters number and he said he was far to expensive at £350 to install his fireplace and that he would want a weeks worth of work to pay that money out for a job.
So i knew he was going to fit it himself and advised him not too regarding the law of solid fuel appliance fitting and that if he did fit it himself get it signed off by building controls.
Well today he has been on the phone asking for fitting instructions which is not something we supply, the reason for this is any written instructions given by Castfireplaces then makes us liable if you install it incorrectly thats why we do not supply them.
Our advice is DO NOT FIT FIREPLACES they are not DIY jobs and need to be installed by somebody who knows what they are doing.
So off he went to search online for some guides to fitting fireplaces i did give him some verbal instructions but he wants a detailed written guide which im not prepared to do.
So please take our advice and dont be DIY Dan its really not worth it

When fitting a stove or using a chimney liner and gather hood we do get asked by customers which is the best way to seal either the flue or register plate.
The idea of a register plate is to form a seal to the chimney breast forcing the flue to draw through the flue pipe and not pull air round the sides of the register plate.
The best way to do this is to seal the register plate to the chimney breast and we use a heat resistant silicone this is now available for sale on our website and is offered in Grey or Black.
It has a temperature resisatnce of 300 degrees which is perfect for sealing around the register plates and also the flue, once fitted and sealed this will ensure its airtight and then the stove can only pull air through the air intake slide.
This gives far better control over the stove and will also stop soot and debris from the chimney landing on top of the stove, we do not use fire cement for this purpose as it will simply crack and fall out this is used for sealing the flue to the collar and nothing else.
Castfireplaces do not suggest you fit a stove yourself and strongly suggest you use a HETAS registered fitter for any solid fuel installation and this advice is for customers who have had stoves fitted and wish to seal the debris plate or flue

Good afternoon here at Castfireplaces we sell the gallery range of fireplaces and stoves and all the items we sell are covered under 12 months warranty.
When this applies to the stoves all parts of the stove are under warranty except the Glass and the Firebricks, this is because they are classed as consumable items within the stove and are designed to be replaced with wear and tear.
The back bricks are prone to cracking and we covered this in an earler item explaining that it will not damage the stove.
Most of the brick damage is caused by throwing in logs or coal against them as they are clay they will simply crack we can not replace these under warranty as they are parts they are designed to be replaced.
Glass is also not covered under warranty as it will not break under normal use and can only be damaged by mechanical damage they are designed to be used under high temps and will not crack from this use.
The bars, grates, baffle plates and the stove itself is covered under warranty should you have any problems which is very rare so if for any reason you do have a problem with your gallery stove within the 12 months of sale please contact us so we can arrange to sort it out for you.