If a multiburner has been installed and signed off by building control, should we worry if there is no flu-liner? Buying a house and see this as a potential issue. We are uncertain as to what to do? Would we be within our rights to ask for the vendors to pay for liner installation/building control sign off if not present? Also wondering whether it is a necessity to have a flue liner.

I’ve heard it said that it is difficult to get a burner to draw properly without a liner.

not all chimneys needs a liner no?

If it’s been fitted and signed off then it is more than likely to be OK as it should have been leak tested and the draw tested etc.

The ‘problem’ is that the woodburner burns at a different temperature and as a result sends different crap up the chimney to the fire that was originally there. The upshot is that there’s risk that there’ll be an accumulation of tar in the chimney that you won’t know about and won’t cause you any problems until it’s soaked through the brick and destroyed the chimney. At this point the only remedy is to knock the chimney down and start again.

Unfortunately, if it’s been signed off by BC you don’t really have a strong bargaining position, but as with all these things it really depends on the individual circumstances and the people involved as to whether you get anywhere.

I’ve heard it said that it is difficult to get a burner to draw properly without a liner.

No doubt by someone trying to flog you said flue…

We’ve not fit one, and ours is fine.
Granted, it takes a bit longer to heat up as you’ve hit yo heat the whole chimney, but after a while it’s spotty dog.

Thanks for the answers The solicitor is asking for the certificates now, so I guess we’ll find out. If it transpires that we will have to sort it ourselves, how much does a liner installation cost?

If its signed off and not needed one why the hell would you want to fit one? Had ours tested and was fine didn’t fit liner as not needed and it runs fine with smokeless or wood.

Most places just want to flog you a liner.

We had a stove fitted all above board with a reputable local company. The guy was against installing a liner even when I suggested it might run better with one. He said it wasn’t necessary and he’d got rid of a couple of people as they’d specified liners for every job.

I thought perhaps he doesn’t want to get on the roof but it’s only a bungalow and they went up there anyway check the pot and fit a cowl.

1 year on with no issues and I asked the sweep about any advantages of a liner and he said he’d only bother if he thought the chimney wasn’t airtight or smoke test failed, then fit one on safety grounds.

It’s also worth checking with your building and contents insurance to see if you are covered, mine insisted the build had a HETAS certificate.

Edit -btw if it’s been signed off by BC it sounds fine, but if it was me I would have it checked and sweeped for my own peace of mind.

All depends on the age of property and site conditions, If it has been signed off then you are covered insurance wise, but did BC perform a pressure test? (different to a smoke draw test)
Personally I wouldn’t recommend not installing a liner on a house built pre 1965, post 1965 then it should have been built with a liner of some description, the suitability of some is questionable for a wood stove at best, and also assumes that it was installed correctly in the first place.
Sure you will anecdotes of stoves running on unlined chimneys that are absolutely fine, and it is not impossible, but.
There are only 3 elements to a wood stove installation, the Flue, the Fuel, and the Fool who is operating it (the 3 F’s)
You might be able to have a slight compromise on one element without noticing a problem, you can’t compromise a huge amount on one, certainly not 2 without causing problems.
An unlined chimney, designed for an open fire, with the cross sectional area calculated on the size of a British standard open fire, is a compromise regardless of any anecdotes. If said chimney is on an outside wall, it is a bigger compromise. If it external to any cavity, i.e. the flue gases are just a 100mm brick away from outside then it is about as much use as a chocolate tea pot!

You absolutely do not NEED a liner if the flue is in good condition, clean and drawing well. You are aiming to achieve a smooth narrow column of fast-rising hot gases in order to create the suction that draws the fire, flues in older houses were generally good for that. The problems start in very old houses where the flues are so wide that they don’t warm up and you get down drafts or where the mortar is deteriorating and you get leakage.

A liner will warm up faster than a brick or stone flue and will give a smoother flow of gases if it’s kept clean.

I bet thousands of liners have been fitted where they weren’t really needed; it’s a good little earner.

No liner here and stove works perfectly. Almost too much draw at times. I was blindly set for getting a liner, having heard from various sources that I would probably need one.

As I posted recently on another thread, I visited a reputable local stove emporium where some jumped up little prick started lecturing me on how illegal and deadly it was not to have a liner. He was insistent that I would £2ks worth of flue liner + vermiculite + chimney topper and oh maybe £500 worth of slate hearth.

I just knew he was full of shit so that started me off doing my own research. I think a lot of people hear “wood burning stove” and start rubbing their hands together as they know they might get a few thou out of you.

When we had our multifuel burner installed they did a smoke test to see if we needed a flue. Leaked all the way up so flue installed. If no leaking they would have installed the burner without a flue.

It’s a chimney, what do you think it was made for? Wouldn’t bother me in the slightest. I am care free spirit though 8) (or lazy and idle if you speak to my wife 😥 )

If your chimney fails a smoke test, it must be rectified before fitting liner according to HETAS.

Cheers for all your insight. I’m relatively calm about it all, I guess the vendors wouldn’t have been overly happy with a leaking chimney. We visited on three occasions with the burner on and there was no smoke or smell in the loft or bedroom where the flue passes through. It’s a mid terrace house, so the flue goes up the party wall with the neighbours flue. Just wondering about the necessity is all and the Missus is getting a bit worked up.

I don’t have a liner, the chimney sweep took a look and advised against it saying I had a perfectly good chimney, anyway had my stove quire a few years now and it works great with plenty of draw.

For peace of mind you or current owners could get a HETAS camera survey, in colour and recorded on dvd, to check for signs of issues, such as timbers intruding or voids in flue, probably need it swept before hand. At least then they provide a report and you know where you are and explain why you want it and pay for the survey, so it is not a free job where they may want to sell a liner.

no liner here

HETAS/BC sign off not worth the paper it written on .

Ours had HETAS certs when we moved in .

found half a cut up coal scuttle wedged through a piece of metal as sort of an adaptor into the chimney.

dodgier than a string bag of fish.

took it out and refitted it with a propper adaptor /registerplate fire rope and flue cement.

HETAS, like all the other certificates, is just about arse-covering.

Two stoves here, one lined and the other not lined. Lit both this afternoon and the unlined stove was roaring just as quickly as, if not quicker than, the other one.
Unlined flue is a dead straight 1950’s external job and has the bigger stove though.

I wouldn’t be bothered BUT if I found a [very] spare £6-700 I’d consider lining it (I’d not use a cheap flue).
You could try and get some money off the price but if I were the vendor I’d tell you to stick it.

Had to have a liner done recently for multi fuel.
our property is late victorian though have run it without problem since installation for almost 10 years.
but chimney developed a leak mortar or ” feathers” as they are known had deteriorated,
Causing smoke to leak in to loft area.
Hence liner was only option. Cost me £700. For sweeping chimney installation of liner
with adaptors and smoke cowl on chimney pot. Whith a reputable installer.
i did have quotes of over a grand though.
so pays to shop around if worse case scenario.

We got conned into having a liner in a house that already had a class 1 flue. The stove fitter who conned us had a mate who was quite old and a bit odd; one day we came back in the car and caught him lurking in the corner of the garage. Two weeks later Mrs Gti discovered he had urinated in a box of her possessions.