A Problem Worth Solving First
When a client wanted to keep their existing fire in the build, a few days of phone calls changed the spec entirely.
What Due Diligence Looks Like in Practice
The job started straightforward enough. Full media wall build, client had an existing fireplace he wanted to keep in the design. One of those older units, just screwed to the wall. Not uncommon. But the heat vented from underneath the unit, and that changed things. We couldn't just frame around it and call it done. We needed to know what was behind that wall before we committed to a spec.
So we called the manufacturer. Needed the serial number to get any useful information out of them. Client didn't have it to hand, which meant going back to the unit, finding it, calling again. The department that handles technical queries closed at 4pm. Of course it did.
We went back and forth over a couple of days. At one point we emailed them a photo to describe the unit's configuration, and we accidentally attached our design render alongside a photo of the actual fire. Their guy came back completely confused, said he'd never seen a flame effect like that on one of their units. We had to explain that one of the images was a CGI render of our proposed build. He found it funny, to be fair. We were slightly less amused at the time.
When we finally got the information we needed, the answer was what we'd suspected. Building around the existing unit wasn't going to work. The clearances weren't there. Doing it anyway would have meant boxing in a heat source we couldn't fully account for, behind a finished wall, in someone's home.
We sourced a replacement through a supplier we use regularly. Quality fire, starts from £895, designed to slot cleanly into a media wall build. The quote didn't change. The timeline barely moved.
A few extra days of phone calls and one embarrassing email later, the client got a build that was done properly. No shortcuts behind the plasterboard. Just a clean result that'll still be fine in ten years.
That's the job, really.
"If you build around a heat source you haven't properly checked, you own the consequences. The wall is finished. The client has moved back in. There's no good time to open it up again."
Daniel Brewster
Design Director, LV Carpentry & Tradesmen
Every build that involves an existing appliance needs a clearance check before the frame goes up. Manufacturers have different requirements for airflow, combustible material proximity, and electrical routing. Some are straightforward. Some, like this one, require persistence.
The cost of getting it wrong isn't a visible defect or a callback job. It's a fire risk inside a finished wall. That's not a standard that any reputable joiner should be comfortable with, and it's not one we are.
When an existing unit can't be safely incorporated, we source a replacement. The spec changes; the outcome doesn't. The client still gets what they asked for. They just get it done correctly.
Have an Existing Fire You Want to Keep?
We'll check the clearances before we commit to a spec. Complimentary consultation across London, Surrey & the Home Counties.