Fire, Chimneys and Draughts: Soot and Cinders

There is nothing to match the warmth, companionship and comfort that a real fire brings to a room, and it is without doubt one of the great pleasures of living in a period home.

As most of us also have central heating and live in luxurious warmth compared to our ancestors, it’s easy to forget that a good air flow is essential to open fires. But old houses can be draughty in all the wrong places. The answer is to look to some of the time-honoured remedies for trouble-free fires and chimneys, not to mention draught-free doors!

Fires

Our word ‘focus’ comes from the Latin and originally meant ‘the hearth’. For many centuries the hearth was the social and domestic centre of the home, a place where people cooked, kept warm, ate, talked and used the light to read by.

It was also a very labour-intensive part of the housework. Keeping the fire going at all times was considered essential: logs, peat and cattle dung had to be collected and dried, and for those who burnt heather, broom or seaweed, huge amounts were needed to maintain a fire. Even when these various fuels gave way to coal in the late eighteenth century, it didn’t mean any less work, as coal dust was far dirtier than wood ash.

Down the centuries fireside cleaning equipment became more specialised and elaborate, culminating in the Victorian housemaid’s cleaning box, which contained brushes, abrasives, cleaning rags and polishes, all of which were carried daily from room to room so that the fires could be swept and relaid, and the grates black leaded and polished. Fireside furniture – fenders, tongs, fire forks, shovels and brushes – was often made of brass and that too had to be kept gleaming. And then there was always the kitchen range to polish. The housemaid’s lot was not a happy one!

Cleaning fireplaces

Brick fireplaces can be cleaned wit vinegar or just water, but not soap, as this leaves a scum. Stone should be treated with water or a proprietary stone cleaner. Tiles can be washed with hot water and detergent or scoured gently with steel wool. Marble fireplaces should only be cleaned with water and mild detergent, never a proprietary cleaning material, as this can eat into the marble.

Grates can be cleaned with black lead (Zebrite) then buffed, or if not in use, you can paint them with matt black paint. For brass fenders and fireguards, use a lemon dipped in salt, or a concoction of equal parts of vinegar and salt.

Laying a fire

Laying fires that wouldn’t go out was an important skill for our ancestors, and the principles of laying a good fire remain to this day. If it is coal, remove the old ash, if wood, use the old ash as a bed for the new fire; if you have them, place a few cinders or hot coals at the bottom of the grate first, cover with some bunched up newspaper and lay dry kindling in a criss-cross pattern on top; place small pieces of coal or wood over this and light. You may need a firelighter if the fuel is at all damp. For a longer-lasting fire, throw on a few potato peelings.

Chimneys

Chimneys have an almost romantic quality in the way they give character to a house. But that wouldn’t have been the view of a latterday chimney sweep. Keeping the chimney clean was a dirty, difficult and dangerous job, but such was the nature of coal fires that it had to be done at least twice a year. Child chimney sweeps had the miserable job of climbing the tall, narrow chimneys and the housemaid dreaded the fine layer of coal dust which inevitably descended on the room below.

Very poor households devised their own methods of cleaning, which included forcing a bundle of holly twigs up and down the chimney with one person on the roof and another by the fireplace, each pulling one end of the rope in a sawing motion. Sometimes they even threw a live hen or goose down the chimney, which loosened the soot with the flapping motion of its wings!

In Wales it was considered bad luck to carry corpses out of a door, so chimneys were built wide enough to allow a coffin to be hoisted through, the reason for the ‘simnai fawr’ or big Welsh chimney!

Maintaining a chimney today

If a chimney is in regular use it is important to have it swept at least once a year; if you are burning only wood, twice a year, because the resin from the wood can settle in the chimney and catch fire. The drier the wood, the more efficient it is and the less tar will be left behind. Chimneys can now be lined with a stainless steel ‘skin’ which prevents deposits forming, and these are recommended for anyone installing a woodburning stove, but they are expensive and still need sweeping.

It is best to use a professional chimney sweep if at all possible, but you can also buy sets of brushes from DIY shops and do the job yourself. If you want to check that a chimney is clear of obstructions, wait until it is cool and then hold a piece of smouldering paper in front of it; the smoke should be drawn up easily.

If you don’t use your chimney and want to prevent rain coming in whilst maintaining adequate ventilation, have it capped with a terracotta cowl or simply use a roof tile to cover it.

Draughts

In the middle ages, glass for windows was so scarce that the wealthy carried panes of glass with them as they travelled from one home to another.

Given this lack of insulation, it is not surprising that most household textiles were used not so much for decoration as for the very practical purpose of keeping out the cold, a practice which continued until the mid-eighteenth century. Hence four-poster beds had drapes, and walls and doorways were often hung with thick woollen tapestries.

Incredibly, the average modern home still loses about 15% of its heat through draughts, a further 30% through the walls and about 20% through the windows.  So just imagine what the percentage is in an older house! It’s difficult to stem draughts without tampering with the character of a period building, but all the following measures will make a difference:

• Unused fireplaces can be blocked off completely, so long as you install a ventilation brick on the outside wall to allow some air to circulate.
• Fit a fabric flap on your letter box.
• Hang an interlined curtain on the back of the front door.
• Fir discreet foam strips around windows.
• Make draught dogs from the arms of old coats, or sew a fabric sausage and stuff it with scraps of material.

With proper maintenance, your home can be draught-free, with a roaring open fire providing a warm welcome and tons of inimitable period atmosphere.

ADDRESS BOOK

The National Association of Chimney Sweeps, Unit 15 Emerald Way, Stone Business Park, Staffordshire, tel: 01785 811732, email: www.chimneyworks.co.uk

Heating and Ventilation Contractors Association, ESCA House, 34 Palace Court, London W2 4JG, tel: 020 7313 4900, email: www.hvca.org.uk

The Draught Proofing Association,PO Box 12, Haslemere,Surrey GU277 3AH, tel: 01428 654011

National Fireplace Association, TheMcLarenBuilding, 35 Dale End,Birmingham B4 7LN, tel 0121 200 1310

The Solid Fuel Association,7 Swanwick Court, Alfreton, Derbyshire DE55 7AS, tel: 0845 601 4406, email: sfa@solidfuel.co.uk