When replacing original sash windows, how much is removed?

[geraldthehamster]

I was under the impression that if I open up a closed fireplace/chimney, it then is subject to current building regs and I'd have to get a modern flue/liner.

I don't suppose Building Control would know it had ever been blocked up in the first place. Which is not to say it isn't a good idea. But if swept and tested the flue might be fine.

 

[geraldthehamster]

Out of curiosity why did they put sash windows in every room instead of sealed ones? Why the need to open all the windows back in 1880?

In case anyone needed to exit the building in a hurry?

 

[Gerrydelasel]

To let out the smoke and dust, and let in the fresh air which Victorian Britons believed to be essential for health.

 

[geraldthehamster]

It might be worth pointing out that if anyone did need to escape from a window because of fire, double glazed units are much harder to break than single panes of glass. If you're going to add DG units, I'd be tempted to make sure the windows will open.

I'm always horrified by those rooms, especially bedrooms, that have that cheap plastic DG with fixed windows and tiny opening top lights. What are the occupants supposed to do in case of fire?

 

[d000hg]

I don't suppose Building Control would know it had ever been blocked up in the first place. Which is not to say it isn't a good idea. But if swept and tested the flue might be fine.

Well quite... if it worked fine before the regs came in it will now. Although after years of not being used, the condition may have deteriorated necessitating some remedial work. I think if that was the case, then it would make sense to go the modern route.
Our main living room has a gas fire in the hearth but that's quite a recent change so I'm certainly going to take the view it never stopped being an active flue - my understanding is the regs only come into effect with new/re-opened flues, not pre-exsting ones. I thought the heat of the fire was one of the things that older houses relied on to keep the damp out

 

[geraldthehamster]

Bear in mind that a flue that's adequate for a gas fire might not be for a real fire, and certainly not for a stove.

 

[d000hg]

Well sure but it was an open fire since ~1870 that they shoved a gas fire in only a few years ago. It's possible they put in a different flue but I doubt it. I'll have to stick my head or a camera up and see
A stove would be a whole different matter but we want at least one traditional open fire even though stoves are of course far more efficient.

 

[geraldthehamster]

Well sure but it was an open fire since ~1870 that they shoved a gas fire in only a few years ago. It's possible they put in a different flue but I doubt it. I'll have to stick my head or a camera up and see
A stove would be a whole different matter but we want at least one traditional open fire even though stoves are of course far more efficient.

Yes, it will have been fine, but bricks and mortar deteriorate, so it would be important to get it swept and smoke tested before using it again.

You won't fit a stove into an original fireplace. You often see stoves in Victorian/Edwardian houses when the original fireplace has already been lost, and the opening has subsequently been enlarged for a stove. So if you already have a fireplace missing, that might be the room to put the stove. Stoves and open fires are an awful lot of work, though, unless you just want to use them occasionally for effect.

 

[d000hg]

Yeah, more typically people seem to put stoves on the hearth i.e. outside the actual fireplace. That's the thing that I find a little unattractive - a proper stove fit into a fireplace would be another matter. Our place is quite large and the chimney breast is 6' wide so certainly there is scope for a proper stove fitted into the breast one day.

I've never found open fires to be that much hassle to be honest but I did grow up with them and with the idea that you actually used them to keep your main family room warm not just for show. It was always my job as a kid to fill the coal scuttle, chop logs for firewood, etc. And when we visit Finland (our favourite holiday destination) they are a standard feature, because wood is plentiful.

Nowadays stoves are the new middle-class must-have, it seems. Which partly makes me want to have a roaring open fire instead! Although I think our grates were all originally for coal as they're quite small (our house used to be the mine-manager's at our local colliery) and I'd prefer to burn wood as we can get that for free.

 

[geraldthehamster]

We use a stove as our main form of heating during the winter. Most of the other rooms in the house, and the staircase, open onto that room. We use the central heating as a backup, for a boost in the morning and before we get home from work. Much of my life revolves around sourcing, cutting and moving wood I haven't had to pay for any yet but I can see that time coming. The winters have been mild for several years, but I still remember 2010.

 

[d000hg]

We don't have wood yet but have several large trees to fell. I've no idea what a typical winter's usage is or exactly how much wood a decent tree (18" trunk, 40' high) will provide but I'm roughly assuming each tree will provide a year's fuel. Of course we need to season it (and set up a store) so perhaps we'll just burn coal the first winter, and figure out new stoves/fireplaces summer 2018 for the winter when we have some wood ready to burn.

 

[geraldthehamster]

If the winter is cold, you'll get through it faster than you think

 

[geraldthehamster]

Incidentally, a real fire or stove, and windows that are not sealed, provide a good way to keep a house well-ventilated and prevent damp. The fire draws air currents towards it and up the chimbley.

 

[d000hg]

To get back to windows, I was reading SlimLite/SashGlass website and this quote from Kevin McLoud tickled me after reading the scathing view on UPVC windows in this thread:

Moreover, if you’ve ever stood in a period house that’s been fitted with uPVC double glazing, you’ll know that the frames often leak and that the plastic is so weak and flimsy the only way the window stays in place is by beefing up all the sections of it so that the bit of glass ends up being half the size of the original. When they say ‘replacement double glazing’ they mean they’re going to replace your glass with some thick white plastic that creaks

I've actually been quite impressed with UPVC - my parents fitted them to their 19th century granite farmhouse - but I think you have to go top-end AND have a good fitter. And even then some people are just going to hate them.

An old building down my road just had the old rotten frames ripped out and replaced with UPVC... from the road it looks very good but I'm hoping to ask for a closer look. Maybe we'd consider them for back bedrooms although actually looking at some secondary glazing that looks far better than I'd anticipated, and is probably far cheaper except that you still have to maintain the original frames. I mean, it's basically just a sheet of plastic!

 

[geraldthehamster]

Good quality secondary glazing uses glass, in a timber or aluminium frame.