01
The glass blackens quickly on one side
Usually the door seal on that side has gone, letting cold air wash across the pane. It is a rope job far more often than it is a fuel problem.
Service 07
Stove maintenance and repair
Door ropes, glass, baffle plates and fire bricks — the consumable parts of a stove, replaced before they turn into a bigger problem.
A stove is not a sealed unit. Several parts of it are consumables, designed to wear out and be replaced, and the manufacturer expects it. The door rope goes hard and stops sealing. The glass crazes or cracks. The baffle plate above the firebox warps and eventually burns through. Fire bricks crack, then crumble at the corners. None of that is a fault. It is what those parts are for.
What matters is that a worn part does not stay worn. A door rope that no longer seals lets air in above the fire, which means the stove burns hotter and faster than the controls suggest and you get through noticeably more fuel for the same heat. A missing or holed baffle is the more serious one: the baffle is what keeps flame off the top plate and the flue connection, and running without it shortens the life of the stove and pushes far more heat into the flue than the appliance was designed to send there.
We carry the common ropes and adhesive on the van, so a rope change is usually done while we are already there for the sweep — no second visit and no second call-out. Glass, baffles and fire bricks are made to fit a specific model, so those we measure and order. Tell us the make and model when you ring and we can usually have the part with us on the day.
What the visit covers
Every one of these, every time.
Door and glass rope replacement
Old rope and adhesive cleaned out of the channel properly, new rope bedded in and the door checked for an even seal all the way round.
Stove glass replacement
Cut to your model. Replaced with fresh rope and clips set to the right tension — over-tightened clips are what cracks the next pane.
Baffle plates and fire bricks
Warped, holed or crumbling parts swapped for the correct part for the appliance, not a generic one cut to fit.
An honest look at the rest
Hinges, catches, air controls and the flue connection all checked while the stove is open. We tell you what has life left in it as readily as what has not.
When to book it
Any one of these is reason enough.
02
You cannot slow the fire down
If closing the air control barely changes anything, the stove is drawing air from somewhere it should not — most often a hardened door rope.
03
A cracked pane, or one you can hear rattling
A rattling door is a seal that has stopped doing its job. A cracked pane wants replacing before it fails properly with a fire lit behind it.
04
You can see daylight or flame above the firebox
The baffle has warped, slipped or burnt through. Worth dealing with promptly — that plate is what protects the top of the stove and the flue.
Questions
The ones we actually get asked.
Can you do this at the same time as the sweep?
That is how most of it gets done. Rope changes we can nearly always do on the spot, because the common sizes are on the van. Glass, baffles and fire bricks have to be ordered for your specific model, so if you tell us the make and model when you book, we can usually bring the part with us rather than come back.
How do I know which parts my stove takes?
You often do not, and that is fine. There is normally a data plate on the back or under the ash pan, and a photograph of it tells us what we need. If there is no plate, a few pictures of the stove and a measurement across the glass will usually get us there.
Do you install stoves as well?
No. We sweep, inspect, test and maintain — we do not install appliances, reline flues or carry out building work. For an installation you want a HETAS registered installer, and we are happy to say so rather than take on work that is not ours.
How often should the door rope be changed?
There is no fixed interval. A stove lit most evenings through the winter tends to want new door rope every couple of years; one used at weekends goes much longer. The test is simpler than a calendar — shut a strip of paper in the door and pull. If it slides out without resistance, the seal has gone.
The other jobs we take on.
01
Open fires & inglenooks
Traditional brush-and-rod sweeping for open hearths, including wide inglenook throats and register plates that need lifting.
02
Wood burners & multi-fuel stoves
Baffle out, flue swept top to bottom, rope seals and glass checked. Stoves in constant use want sweeping twice a year, not once.
03
Bird nests & cowl fitting
Nest removal outside the March–August breeding season, followed by a bird guard or cowl so it does not happen again next spring.
04
Thatched properties
Swept from below, with a full external inspection of the stack and ridge. Thatch is unforgiving of a flue nobody has looked at.
05
CCTV flue inspection
A camera survey of the full flue when something is not drawing right, before a sale, or after a chimney fire. You get the footage.
06
Smoke-draw & integrity testing
Proving a flue is sound and venting where it should. Booked on its own when a room smokes back, before a purchase, or after a fire.
Get a slot before the season fills.
Monday to Saturday, 7am–7pm. Voicemail answered same day.