On 05/02/2018 01:33, Roger Hayter wrote:
John Rumm wrote:

On 04/02/2018 20:49, Gavinda Jaya Jaya wrote:
Hi

I've just had an slimline blanced flue inset gas fire installed (Stdio 2
from
https://www.stovax.com/stove-fire/st...slimline-gas-f
ires/ )

It required a new hole around 90cm * 45cm to be fitted into (no
chimney involved) - the work was surveyed by the fire company and
performed by a Gas Safe registered installer and the fire works just
fine.

Assuming the 90cm is the width, then that is wider than a standard door,
and that would usually have a lintel.

So - should a lintel have been inserted as part of the job?

Seems pretty likely.

(45cm on a block wall would be less of an issue)

It's perhaps worth pointing out that minor cracking is quite likely even
if it does have a satisfactory lintel. Provided it does not get any
bigger it is probably fine to just fill it. As far as a lintel is
concerned, the OP could ask the people who did it, test with a magnet
(although the lintel might not be steel) or if all else fails cut a
strip out of the plaster to check.

As Roger says, even if they have fitted a lintel- which I would expect-
small cracks are not uncommon after such work. If nothing else, the heat
from the new fire may have contributed to it.

I'm not so sure re a magnet- even a decent cover of render and plaster
will probably be enough to mean the distance between the surface of the
wall and the lintel is too big for a magnet to work.

I'd try a stud finder. While these are designed to detect wood behind
plasterboard, they do detect other things. I've used mine to detect
wood behind a metal skinned, 50mm insulated, motorhome body.

Try first somewhere you known there is/should be a lintel.




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