Fireplaces High on the List of Makeover Must-Haves

Smart home-owners are increasingly investing in fireplaces to boost the value of their property. To find out more visit http://www.fireplaceblog.co.uk/

Now that the global financial party is over and the bankers are sobering up fast, the housing market has also gone quiet, with mortgage approval rates only just starting to rise. For most home-owners, it’s still time to sit tight and wait until the credit markets ‘un-crunch’ themselves.

In the meantime, the wise thing to do is to invest in the property you’ve already got – and that’s exactly what thousands of property-owners are doing. And of all the improvements that can be carried out on a house, fitting a new fireplace surely ranks among the most attractive.

Fireplaces transform rooms, making them appear warmer, even when no fire has been lit. They create an impression of comfort and elegance in otherwise unremarkable spaces and give rooms a sense of maturity, sophistication and even wealth that no other fixture can provide. Perhaps their greatest asset, though, is that fireplaces create a focus for a room that is both imposing and welcoming at the same time.

Rekindling old flames

For all these reasons, many people are reinstating old fireplaces that have previously fallen out of use or been covered over in often ill-advised attempts at modernity. More and more home-owners are renovating old fittings or installing well-made new ones in order to bring back some of their houses’s original features and restore their home to its former glory.

While reinstating an old fireplace and investing in a new mantlepiece, hearth and surround makes excellent sense – both from an aesthetic and long-term financial view – anyone wishing to do so should bear in mind the following tips.

• If the chimney hasn’t been used in a while, have it swept – sootfalls can be costly (in terms of cleaning bills) as well as a nuisance.
• Ask the sweep to make sure the chimney pots have guards fitted to the tops to prevent jackdaws and other birds from nesting in them.
• Check if you live in a smoke control area, commonly referred to as a ‘smokeless zone’. If you do, and you wish to have a ‘real’ fire, you will have to burn ‘smokeless’ fuel, which is usually available wherever you can buy normal coal (filling stations, hardware shops, etc)
• If you’re removing an old gas fire, ensure that any pipes are disconnected and closed off by a trained and qualified engineer.