access to chimney

[littlestar34]

Hi all. We are wanting to get a hole in the wall gas fire for the living room part of our new extension. The company we are looking to get it from have been to do a survey and in order to access our chimney stack to clean and fit the liner they say they need to use scaffolding and boards. They have quoted an extra £750 for this which is a lot to add to the overall cost of the fire and installation. The reason being we have a very old room and the chances of them damaging it standing on tiles is high. The guy who came round did say that customers will sometimes take the risk and just repay for the repairs after the work. The have insurance but given the age and condition of our roof they deem the risk to be too great and have recommended the scaffolding option which I am guessing means they won't cover any damage to our roof on their insurance. Has anyone had a gas fire fitted or chimney swept and had to have scaffolding. Or did anyone take the risk that the roof would be ok. Would the damage be likely to be greater than £750. I need to ring them as it is possible that their fitters have actually said that it's not worth the risk to their health and safety having seen the photos and its not just about roof damage.

It may cost more, but surely it is better for you, your roof and the guys doing the work that everything is done safely? You seem to be suggesting that damage to the roof is the only thing to be concerned about. The company fitting the flue liner, etc may well have their insurance invalidated if they fail to take appropriate safety measures and use scaffolding working at height.

Yes, it may be an additional cost you hadn't considered, but better to pay for the scaffolding than deal with the aftermath of a fall or injury to someone working on your roof or roof repairs.

Hi. Thanks. No the damage is not the only thing I am concerned about but was the only thing mentioned by the surveyor and he seemed to suggest it was to do with roof damage. I am obviously concerned about the safety of the guys doing the work and have run the company back to check. He has now said that having shown pictures to the three different fitting teams they would all suggest scaffolding so that is what we will be doing. :) We have had people on the roof recently (chimney sack flashing repair and aerial connection) so guess I hadn't really thought about it much. The back is in much better nick than the front though.