Summer Clean

With the prospect of summer just around the corner, now is the perfect time to give your appliance a summer clean out. It is also advisable to book a chimney sweep to clean your flue.

Here at fire BY DESIGN we recommend that all Flues / Chimneys to be swept a minimum of once a year. This can sometimes be confused with a full calendar year, this means if your appliance is installed during November and you have burnt this throughout the winter period, it is advisable to have the flue swept during the summer before the following season.

During the months of May, June, July and August is ideal to have this done as firstly the sweep should not be so busy and secondly if their are any problems with the flue then this can be rectified whilst the stove is not in use.

Some sweeps will also happily give your appliance a quick once over, remove bricks and baffles and check for any breakages, loose ropes etc.

If they don’t no problem. that’s what we are here for.

Nikki’s, 7 step guide to checking your appliance over, giving it a summer clean.

1. Check the appliance over – Look at the outer box and check for any warping / rust / holes to the steel/Cast Iron box.

2. Open and close the door make sure that this seals and that the handle functions correctly.

3. Then visually inspect the firebricks for breakages.

4. Carefully remove and set aside the side, rear and top firebricks/Baffles, it is advisable to view the installation manual for your particular stove as every single one is different and may suggest removing back first or top first etc.

5. Empty out the ash pan and remove log retainer and grate if your stove has one.

6. This is the time to give your appliance a quick hoover, clean the glass and give the paint work a wipe down and touch up / re spray this will make the stove look as new again.

7. Now is the time to put everything back. ( Bricks can be fragile so again be careful when handling them). Check the manufactures instructions or view an exploded diagram for your particular appliance as they all vary and some have certain orders for putting everything back together.

If you find during this time that you do require spare parts of any kind, please see below our spare part request form, Please provide us with as much information as you can so we can identify your appliance and the part requested.

We get asked all the time about using your stove with broken fire bricks or broken glass. Here at fire BY DESIGN we advise that if you have broken glass – Not to light the stove or use the appliance and source replacement glass immediately ( If the glass happens to break/crack whilst the stove is lit then, allow the fire to go out and do not use again until the glass has been replaced.

If there is a broken /cracked firebrick this is slightly different. Cracks in bricks can get larger over time, if it starts as a hair line crack and is no wider than the edge of a pound coin then this is fine to continue using, but source a replacement for when the crack gets larger. If the Brick has broken in numerous places and this absolutely needs replacing.

If unsure about the giving your stove a service and your sweep is unable to look at this for you then we have a designated team of engineers that can come out and service your stove, Please contact the office for pricing and availability.

Until Next Time.