With a decade of experience helping customers buy and fit their dream stove, I hope to help you do the same. I adopt a collaborative approach explaining how the building regs impact on your stove, your chimney and fireplace and help with ideas, from which stove to buy, to where to get best price. Your solid fuel installation will be HETAS certified taking care of planning & building regulations.
Fitting a flexible stainless steel liner in your existing chimney is typical when fitting a stove in your fireplace. The liner both optimises stove performance and rejuvenates your flue with smooth leak-free walls from top to bottom.
Normally it's both easier & more cost effective for me to supply all equipment when fitting a stove, Premium components are used for greater longevity & a better look.
When there is no chimney for your stove we can build one using insulated twin wall metal flue pipe. Flues should be kept as warm & vertically as possible, so ideally rising straight up through the house and out through the roof, but sometimes the route through the wall and up the outside of the building is preferable. A fair degree of planning and attention to detail is required to comply with regulations, manage fire risks, as well as being pleasing on the eye.
As an installer I buy most stoves on trade terms with volume discounts & am happy to reflect proportional cost savings in your overall install price, but ONLY for customers requiring a full installation service. Probably the single most important aspect of stove safety and performance is regular sweeping (& using good dry seasoned wood - a close 2nd). To "service & maintain" stoves is equally part of the HETAS remit & with my particular knowhow & specialist sweeping brushes for metal liners, plus CCTV, I would be delighted to sweep & maintain yours, year in, year out.
Help is at hand whether you just want to add a new hearth, enlarge a fireplace opening or more. With plenty of ideas from past installs & where to find good value on materials I can help you with your plans. The actual "doing" part is whatever works for you, and could include sharing the workload (costs) with you or your builder.
Just me, Mats Willingson, an experienced HETAS qualified stove installer living in Guildford, Surrey. Over a decade ago in a former life I worked for one of the big banks in Strategy and Product Development. I much prefer being hands-on in today's stove projects putting the old technical & project management skills to better use, dealing with the building regulations, choosing quality suppliers and focussing on the detail and you, the customer. Above all, its about getting the right look, at a fair price without compromising on quality.
I strongly believe buying a wood burner should start with a survey before purchasing the stove, rather than the other way round as so often happens. This way we can ensure everything is "Just Right" including the stove, the plan for installing it and the price. My workload is more flexible than many of my competitors so I typically spend more time with my customers before and during installing.
Chesneys Beaumont 5 in Ivory and granite hearth
Salamander Hobbit (in my office)
Firebelly FB1 double sided
Contura 660K:5 tiled stove in oak framed cottage extension
The tiny Hobbit fits the bill
My Airedale's balancing act in front of AGA Little Wenlock
Contura 510 on glass hearth
Contura i4 insert stove (before hearth fitted!)
Out with old (start)
Out with old (opened up and rendered)
Out with old (new slate hearth and Chesneys Salisbury 4)
Twin wall insulated flue - fire saftey concerns in a timber framed barn
Writer's sanctuary (little Morso Squirrel fitted inside)
Writer's sanctuary (twin wall insulated flue throu' eco roof)
Victorian Fireplace (with several era's of alterations)
Victorian Fireplace (original uncovered including tiles!)
1950's ? Fireplace
1950's ? Fireplace - take off the outer, gut the inner
1950's ? Fireplace - more width and height
1950's ? Fireplace - no more - stove on its way
Typical lead flashing for twin wall flue existing roof
Twin wall flue rising vertically from single extension below
Lead flashing for twin wall on slate roof
Twin wall rising from kitchen extension below
Solid fuel pot hanging cowl (right), new cement flaunch around chimney pots and a capping off cowl (left)
Fireplace for old boiler
Fireplace for old boiler - now wider and taller
Fireplace for old boiler - Clearview Pioneer 400
AGA Little Wenlock SE
Hobbit with small logstand in a converted garage
What a dog !!!! (Chesneys Salisbury 4 in background)
Clearview 500
"I contacted Mats at an early stage of renovating my living room and it was clear from the outset that he was very knowledgeable and someone trustworthy. He provided great help in identifying the best configuration for a new fireplace and hearth to meet HETAS requirements, which I was then able discuss with my builder. He helped me select a stove at a very competitive price. Mats was friendly, professional, provided excellent value and went the extra mile to help. He could not have provided a better service – excellent"
“Mats was a pleasure to deal with throughout the installation process. From the initial site survey to the working stove handover. Mats is extremely consultative, he talked me through the options available, the relevant constraints and ensured I was clear on what the final solution would be. The installation process itself was excellent, care was taken throughout and Mats' eye for detail made for a fault/niggle free solution. THANK YOU!”
“Mats provided a first class service, from his swift response to our initial contact, the planning stage, the actual installation undertaken by himself and his offer of aftercare and support if we should experience any problems, which in fact we didn’t. Mats certainly knows his subject very well and is an engaging and “house trained “ person who would be welcomed by any customer – even us!”
“From my first contact Mats spent time discussing my options and how a stove could be fitted in the space I had available. He came round in a day or two to work out the details, and got started on the preparations straight away. On the day he, and his assistant, arrived promptly, and did a really clean tidy job, working out how to deal with difficult bends and small spaces! They were very easy to deal with, and Mats is clearly very knowledgeable about all aspects of fitting and running stoves. I am thrilled with the stove he installed, and can’t wait for the weather to turn colder so I can get some more use out of it!”
“Mats is a knowledgeable stove installer who discussed every detail of what was required, offered solutions, and then installed the stove promptly without mess or fuss. All paperwork was completed and Mats followed-up after the installation and took time to ensure everything was working as it should. The wood burning stove is a delight and the focus point in my living room. Now thinking of having a further one installed in the dining area! Would recommend”
"The Hobbit may be small but boy is it mighty! I can't wait for winter again. Also I have turned my main thermostat down to 13 degrees and the Hobbit does the rest. I would also add that Mats who provided my Hobbit was efficient, tidy, professional and nothing was too much trouble - especially for those learning how to lay and start the Hobbit without industrial use of fire lighters! I cannot recommend him enough"
