We have had an email from one of our customers regarding a Lytton and Brompton Fireplace package we have sold them and they got conflicting advice from different fireplace installers and Building controls cleared it up for them.
They go on to say
Very reasonably priced against local suppliers. The delivery was excellent and came in a wooden box (not a pallet) on time given 8am Sunday morning, delivered by a `strong` young man, which we were glad of as both being pensioners with Arthritis and quite a high front doorstep we would have been scuppered to have had it left outside for us to deal with as other companies do.
We did however have a problem initially as surprisingly no assembly instructions came with it and a quick call to Castfireplaces confirmed it is their practice not to supply these as it should be fitted by a qualified fitter.
Our builder had seen a photo before we bought it and thought it would be straightforward but had not fitted one before.
Searching the internet for guidance we found warnings that we would need a Hetas certification if we planned to sell the house which we are doing which meant finding someone else to fit it who could provide the certificate.
This proved another major hurdle as the local fitters would only do so if we had bought it from their shop; we naively thought they would be glad to get the extra work in a recession! Two builders warned us that we would also need an air vent (more work) as well as the certificate and each gave suspiciously high quotes.
Eventually because of conflicting information we checked with the local buildings regs department and it all proved to be `misinformation`.
Because we were only replacing an open fireplace with another open fireplace, no certificate or air vent was required. After lots of phone calls we eventually found a builder who fitted it in a morning at a more reasonable price and gave us the Hetas certificate even though we don’t need it.
However we were pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to deal with this company and put the problems down to experience.
When we eventually move we hope to buy another one from this company, the fireplace looks fabulous and judging by the feedback from buyers we think it was worth all the anxiety. So check with local building regs first before anything starts
Personally I’m of the opinion it should have had a vent installed as it’s an open fire situation and certainly a HETAS certificate supplied.
So different advice from different fitters and even building controls, Cast fireplaces always suggest using a HETAS registered fitter to install your fire or get it signed off by building controls as you can see it’s down to whose fitting and what they deem is correct for each installation.
Anyway a happy customer and a lovely looking fireplace too.
