Would you be embarrassed if your walls were lime this?

[Toomanynachos]

I am massively. Dh thinks it’s not that bad and we’ll get round to painting them. I don’t actually feel comfortable in my own house anymore, so will get the paint and do it all myself

I do a lot more than him

I would make getting that checked a priority over painting.
If all is ok... I would paint darker colour

Is it kiln dried wood?

Is it properly seasoned wood designed to be used in a wood burner?

Have you really not had it checked for several years? It should be done annually!

It definitely should not stain like that with a wood burner. It can't have been installed properly. I think I would get that sorted out before I painted anywhere. No emissions should be coming into your room except what can't be avoided when the door is open. Please get someone in to look at it. It's not good for any of you living with it but especially a young child. It could actually be damaging her lungs.

I've painted the interior and exterior of several houses, it's not difficult as long as you take the time to do proper prep.

Put a podcast on and get cracking :)

My DH is an awful painter. There's no reason why you can't do it yourself.

Don't wait for him, just begin and he can help if he chooses.

It’s proper wood from a wood merchant place where everyone goes for their wood

It really shouldn’t. We have three of the things. They shouldn’t be letting out any emissions like that.

Is it well serviced? I second that I wouldn’t use it if it’s letting out emissions like that, imagine what you’re breathing in.

You really need to get that looked at as a matter of urgency. Don't paint your walls or do anything to the set-up until it's been looked at by a HETAS approved installer.

If it’s just staining it might be worth going over them with a magic eraser before you repaint!

It looks grim! Just paint it FGS. Last time we painted our house throughout, I did 80% of it. It's hilariously easy! Oh and I work, and have a busy life too! And I had TWO children at home at the time. I know bonkers right!

Did you get your chimney lined when the woodburner was installed?

This - when did you last have your chimney cleaned? You still need to do that even for a wood burner? We had open fires until recently, never had any smoke staining on the decor - you need to get that looked at, and, yes, just do the painting yourself. I’ve done all of our for 33 years, with a job and kids…

I'd be much more embarrassed about the damage I was doing to my kid's health and the environment by burning wood, to be honest -
https://www.bmj.com/content/350/bmj.h2757/rr-1?fbclid=IwY2xjawIxgTBleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHRka6KEEXH08TqCPbPpFVPxlbHFVGZb1N6ZxECw85C3FYTxLFt6gIK-oew_aem_8peWNzc_FRF_FNRqSrD_JA

In that case, your fire is almost certain to be leaking. Your flue should have been checked every year by a chimney sweep. There’s a real risk of it catching fire from all the tar that could be adhering to it.
Please don’t use the fire until it’s checked out!

Don’t do anything with the walls until you’ve had an opinion on the fire . Who fitted the fire in the first place ? I’d get a HETAS approved fitter in to look at the set up before wasting money on a sweep . As the pp said I’d be more concerned about the inside of your lungs than the stains on the walls . What is the gap between the top of the fire and the top of the hearth ?

Well, they're a bit grubby but not that bad tbh.

I voted YABU simply because of your "I'll get the paint and do it all myself" comment. I don't have much patience with performative helplessness! 😂

And as others have said, get your woodburner looked at.

Highly recommend scrubbable paint, it's a god send if you have an open fire/kids/pets

This ⬆️. Please get this checked, it should not look like this.

That doesn't look safe at all but I hope I'm wrong.

A HETAS engineer.

I presume you know the make and model of the wood burner so you can Google the installation manual which will tell you the clearances required for that stove and you can then check if the hole is the correct size for that model stove.
Chimneys should be swept annually, some chimneys require sweeping more frequently than others. I’ve got one that needs sweeping every 3 months.
Check the baffle plate is in the correct position and the fire bricks are in good condition. The baffle plate fell down on one of my stoves and it basically stopped working emitted smoke

Before painting it, I would try using a sugar soap spray and cleaning it. You're meant to sugar soap then rinse to prep the area before painting anyway, but if it was painted that recently and it is just surface dirt, you might find it cleans up well without having to repaint

but if you haven't used sugar soap before, be wary of it and definitely ensure you don't spray any in your eyes – use eye protection. Although it's called sugar soap so sounds fairly benign it is a fairly nasty chemical – but very effective for cleaning paint work.

I have some stains in my kitchen from a previous leak. It needs a specialist undercoat and then redecorating. I suspect I don’t have the time / energy / skills to do it well, and paying an expert isn’t a financial priority (it’s a rental as well, so I’m aware it’s not an investment). Sometimes it bugs me, but I wouldn’t say I was embarrassed 🤷‍♀️

Jesus 😔