Our new fire: The installation

It was always the plan when we built our extension to put in a wood burning stove. As you may know, I am very keen on doing anything DIY, but I do have my limitations and I have learned that some things are not to be undertaken unless you are going to finish them. A worry for me is undertaking work where there is risk of leaking water and not being able to resolve it quickly. I was so keen on the idea of putting in a fire until it came to cutting a hole in our new extension roof and ruining the water-tightness. So that is where Ignite really took the worry out of the equation. It is rare for us to have tradespeople or businesses in to do work, as I have been disappointed in the past and I enjoy undertaking the work myself, but one consultation with Daniel from Ignite made us feel very comfortable that they would do a good job.

Here is the spot where we wanted the stove to go. As you can see there is no chimney or fireplace so we were very conscious about how much room would be required and how close it could go to our sofa and we didn't want it to take up lots of space from our room. A conversation with Ignite made us realise how little room was needed.

Ignite suggested a brand new wood burning stove by Charnwood, The Arc. I couldn't believe how little hearth it needed underneath; just a 12mm piece of glass!

They carefully placed The Arc on the glass and this is how close it is to our sofa! It is only 8cm from the wall behind it, so takes up so little room, yet draws all of your attention. 

This is the first metre of twin wall flue going on.

Cutting out the hole for the flue after carefully measuring and marking.

 The flue is fixed to the rafters.

Ignite had the great idea of installing a length of adjustable flue in case we ever needed maintenance access or for if we ever wanted to change our stove.  

Polishing the flue.

Raph was so desperate to help, but for once there was nothing for us to do except wait excitedly (he still managed to get the dustpan out though, and borrow all the guys' safety gear).

Once installed, Ignite ran through all the dos and don'ts of the stove, provided us with some starter-wood, lit a fire and shared in our excitement that is a wood fire in your home! 

Rob.