On Sun, 23 Dec 2007 18:40:40 +0000, The Natural Philosopher
wrote:

There are regular pictures of such cases in the Bury Free Press, but
every single one I have seen has been in a house with a thatched roof
which makes me extremely suspicious that the problem is not with the
flue but with sparks shooting out the top, in which case a chimney
with a liner could be worse than one without

Nope. It seems that what is most common is a leaky stack inside the
thatch where you don't see it.

People point up where its visible, and can inspect teh loft, or smell
smoke.if the leak is inside..but if its inside the layer of thatch there
is no sign of the leak until the thing goes up.

Yes I suppose that makes sense. If there is a tiled roof then the
hidden bit is much smaller, just where the flashing goes

No. I personally would have been happy with a flexible liner, but the
BCO said no, if it isn't clay block lined, its essentially doing
nothing. AND made us put fireproof board round it where the timbers hung
off it.

I am not renowned for being a fan of Elfin Safety, or silly regulations,
but where fire is concerned I have seen the devastation it causes, and I
am bang on or beyond all fire safety recommendations. Its the same with
cars. I've been motor racing too often to even THINK about driving
without a belt and strap on. I was even responsible for fire issues at
two of the companies I was director of..if you don't want the BCO
involved, go and talk to the local fire safety officer:

That sounds like a good idea. I'll do that

snip lots of interesting stuff

OK you might have convinced me :-)

Anna
~ ~ Anna Kettle, Suffolk, England
|""""| ~ Lime plaster repair and conservation
/ ^^ \ // Freehand modelling in lime: overmantles, pargeting etc
|____| www.kettlenet.co.uk