Your One-stop Fireplace Specialists: Fireplaces Supplied, Modified, Built, and Installed
The choice is yours; from a simple “Hole in the wall” design right through to an ornate stone surround, hearth and mantel. Solid fuel, Gas or Electric. Complete the whole package with The Kent Stove Company.
Fireplaces Supplied
There are three main suppliers we offer whose products you might like to browse. We can generally source from any manufacturer you might choose:
Capital
Capital are one of the largest suppliers in the country with a wide range of mantels, fireplaces, fire surrounds, chambers and beams. Click here for Capital Brochures
Chesneys
Chesneys are at the top end of the fireplace market with a collection of some of the finest fireplaces available anywhere. Their range includes includes contemporary, antique, historical or a bespoke service designing unique fireplaces to your specifications. Click here to request a Chesneys brochure
Stovax
Stovax, one of the largest suppliers of wood, gas and electric stoves and fires in the world also offer a very comprehensive range of stone, cast iron and wooden mantels along with a big choice of fireplaces and associated products. Click here for the Stovax Classic Fireplaces Brochure
Fireplaces Modified
Here are a few examples where we have modified the chimney breasts and fireplaces to accept stoves and open fires. These could equally have been prepared for gas or electric-powered open fires and stoves.
Once the fire chamber is structurally secured, the outer finish could be a stone mantel, an oak or fireproof mantel-beam or just a plain "hole in the wall" opening.
If you have an existing fireplace it may be possible to transform it to accommodate a stove, open fire or a gas or electric replacement. This is something we can do for you, all under one roof including fireplace modification or enlargement, plastering or fire chamber lining to make good and new or replacement hearth. See some of the examples below that we’ve carried out recently.
Kent Classic
An interesting job we completed in East Kent recently. The old brick fireplace was removed ready for a wood stove installation.
Because the fire chamber wasn’t deep enough, the inner skin of brickwork was removed and a new outer skin built on the outside to maintain cavity wall protection.
The fire chamber and chimney breast were then plastered, and a new granite hearth with a classic stone surround and mantel were installed. Finally a Purevision traditional style wood burning stove was supplied and installed.
Plain & Simple
The old fireplace and surround removed, the fire opening modified and plastered, a new hearth and a contemporary style Stovax Vogue Midi wood burning stove installed with a flexible liner into the existing chimney.
More simple “Hole in the wall” fireplace modifications we’ve completed recently:
Double-sided Fireplace and Stove
There was an existing fireplace with chimney on one side but the customer wanted something to serve both rooms. The existing fireplace was broken through to the other side and a Portway 2 double-sided stove installed.
Fire Chamber linings and finish
Your fire opening, fireplace or fire chamber may be fine as it is or, particularly after an old fireplace has been opened up, taken back to its original size or enlarged, may need a "finish". The options inside the chamber are to Render, Plain fireboard, a false brick lining or a bespoke hand-built brick slip lining.
Note: The chamber should never be lined with anything combustible such as plasterboard (even the red one) or chipboard, even if tiled or plastered afterwards, due to the fire risk.
Rendering
This is where the inside of the fire chamber is rendered with a sand and cement mix, possibly with a little lime added for heat resistance. If the inside of the chamber is very rough or uneven it may take a lot of layers, and time, to achieve a good, even finish. Even then it's likely to be a little "rustic" as it's inadvisable to use a skim finish plaster which will likely crack up or detach with the heat from the stove. The corner join from the fire chamber to the chimney breast will need to be considered as this will need to be blended in or covered with a frame (See below). As a result, rendering can be a more expensive option than Fireboarding, below.
Plain Fireboard lining
This is a quicker, slightly cheaper safe way of creating a neat finish in a fire chamber. The chamber is lined out with a fireproof cement board which can be decorated with a water based paint prior to the stove being fitted. You will still have to consider how the the corners between the chamber and the chimney breast are finished, either with plastering or a steel frame. See below.
A Plain Fireboard Chamber Lining painted white
Fire Chamber lining "brick or tile" panels
Instead of a plain fireboard lining, as above, there are ready made fireproof panels in various different designs. The panels are only 35mm thick, so do not reduce the chamber size significantly. To see the full range please visit our supplier: Capital Fireplaces Cost sits between the plain panels above and the bespoke hand-built brick slips below.
A Brick Panel Chamber Lining from Capital Fireplaces
Bespoke hand-built brick slips
Top of the range is the hand-built bespoke chamber lining, which again comes in a number of styles and colours. The actual pattern that they are fitted is your choice, e.g. Plain, herringbone etc. If the chamber is in poor condition or uneven to start with it may be necessary to straighten it up with a plain lining first before the brick slips are fitted.
Hand-built Bespoke Herringbone Brick Slip Lining
No fireplace, no chimney, no problem!
This was a plain, outside wall on a modern house but with no chimney. A stone hearth was built and a chimney breast created with block-work and a herringbone brickwork lining (see above). A concrete lintel faced with a real oak bressummer beam was fitted and the chimney breast continued to ceiling level.
The wall was then plastered and finished and the stovepipe connected to a twin-wall chimney system which passed through the wall and up the outside of the building. The stove pipe can be in black but this adds to the cost.
