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With fewer than 100 days until Christmas, it might feel like there is plenty of time to sort a new fireplace or stove. From what we see each year at Castfireplaces, this is actually the point when you need to start getting things organised. Once the kids go back to school after the summer holidays, heating season starts, and the rush normally carries on right through until Christmas.
As the evenings get cooler, more people start thinking about fires and stoves at exactly the same time. Fitters get busier, delivery dates begin filling and anything made to measure needs to be allowed for.
If you definitely want your new fireplace or stove finished before Christmas, September and October are a much better time to start than leaving it until November.
The fireplace itself isn’t normally the main issue. We hold a lot of fireplaces, stoves, hearths and other components in stock, so in many cases we can supply what you need without a particularly long wait. Finding somebody available to fit it can be a different matter.
Fireplace and stove fitting is very seasonal. During the summer months it is normally much easier to arrange an installation. Once heating season begins, good fitters can quickly fill their diaries. Sometimes I think customers imagine fireplace fitters are sitting at home waiting for the phone to ring. In reality, they can already be booked between installations, surveys and other work for weeks ahead.
If you’ve already got your fitter booked, you’re in a much better position. If you still need somebody, you can use our approved fireplace and stove fitters page to find installers in your area.
You can approach this either way. Some customers speak to a fitter first, while others choose their fireplace before arranging installation. Ideally, I’d try to get both moving at roughly the same time.
Your fitter needs to know what is being installed, but it is also useful to have the fireplace ready in plenty of time. Fitters occasionally get cancellations or jobs moved, particularly when bad weather affects other work. If they suddenly offer you an earlier appointment and your fireplace is already there, you have the option of taking it.
This is one area where leaving things late can genuinely cause problems. Our standard fireplaces are often available from stock, but made-to-measure work normally has a lead time of around 4–5 weeks. Ordering something made to measure in November immediately uses up a large part of the remaining time before Christmas. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t choose a made-to-measure fireplace. It simply needs to be planned earlier.
If you already know that your chimney breast, opening or room requires a non-standard size, it makes sense to get your measurements and order sorted sooner rather than later.
At Castfireplaces, our workload can be around three times higher during heating season than it is at quieter times of the year. We hold plenty of stock and continue delivering into December, with our final working day before Christmas this year being 19 December 2026. However, available delivery dates naturally get tighter as more orders come through. This catches customers out every year.
We regularly reach the point where somebody has secured a fitting date but needs the stove or fireplace urgently and the delivery dates they wanted are already full. Some customers then end up arranging collection instead. If you’ve got a fitter booked, make sure you also think about when you need everything on site rather than assuming it can be delivered immediately before the installation.
A lot depends on what you’re installing and whether you already have a fitter. If your fitter is booked and the fireplace you want is in stock, you may still have plenty of options.
If you’re starting from scratch later in the year and need a stove installed, chimney work carried out or a more involved fireplace installation, it becomes much harder to get everything completed before Christmas. Fitters do get cancellations and their schedules can change, but I wouldn’t rely on that if having the room finished for Christmas is important to you.
Not every fireplace requires the same type of installation. Electric and bioethanol fireplaces can be much more straightforward, particularly some of our flat-wall fireplace packages, which are designed for homes without an existing chimney breast or fireplace recess. Depending on the fireplace and the property, these may involve considerably less work than installing a stove and preparing a chimney.
Some suitable electric or bioethanol installations can also be completed without a specialist fireplace fitter, provided the manufacturer’s instructions and relevant installation requirements are followed. So if you’ve left things later in the year, it can still be worth looking at the different options available.
The fitting itself isn’t always the end of the job. Depending on what you’re having done, there may be chimney work, alterations to the opening, a new hearth or chamber, plastering or decorating afterwards. If the fireplace goes in a few days before Christmas but the room still needs finishing, it probably isn’t quite the result you had pictured.
Allowing some spare time between fitting and Christmas makes the whole process much less stressful.
If you want your fireplace finished before Christmas, my advice is simple: get the fireplace and fitter organised as early as you can.
Have a look through our fireplace and stove packages, or get in touch with Castfireplaces if you’re unsure what will work in your room. If you send us a few details and measurements, we can help you narrow down the options before the Christmas rush really gets going.
Phone
01773 718718
Email
sales@castfireplaces.co.uk
