Tag Archives: chimney tubes

Monday 22nd December 2014 – NO WONDER …

blocked chimney les guis virlet puy de dome france … that the fire wasn’t working properly last night. Just have a look at this little lot!

Yes, the chimney was totally blocked and the smoke had no possible way of reaching the outside, except via the door and the air vents of the stove.

I consequently dismantled all of the tubing and spent over an hour cleaning everything out. And it certainly needed it too. In places it was solidly blocked.

The upshot of this all is that the small fire that I had this evening was burnt up in half an hour and the temperature had risen from 14.2°C to … errr … 34°C, and all in half an hour too. The food tonight was cooked in seconds instead of the usual couple of hours.

All in all, it was a very worthwhile exercise, cleaning the chimney. And I’m glad that I did too, because during the night we had a severe frost, the first of the year and the temperature had dropped to minus 2°C outside (lucky that I had plenty of residual heat in here). That also meant that we had one of these Alpine winter days today – not a single cloud in the sky all day. The first day like this for ages and the batteries are now fully charged at last.

fitting stairs les guis virlet puy de dome franceI spent the rest of the working day on the floor. Not horizontally of course, although I did have my moments. I recut some of the horizontals for the stairs on the lower part of the staircase so that they are flush with the uprights of the stud walls. And I am well-impressed with the Ryobi plus one percussion screwdriver. That drove the big long screws home in no time – much better that with the normal screwdriver.

For lunch, I made some hummus again. This time with olives and tomatoes, and a bit more water and oil so that it was a little more damp than before. And it did taste good too.

After that, I fitted the riser for the lowest stair on the staircase, and then fitted the second layer of flooring behind it. Finally, I fitted the two pieces of plasterboard that go there.

Tomorrow, I’ll fill the screwheads in the plasterboards that I fitted today, sand them off and then fit the treads for the stairs. Once they are done, I can varnish the flooring in there and then I’ll have a couple of shelves for storage.

-1

Sunday 21st December 2014 – WELL, I KNOW WHAT …

… I’ll be doing tomorrow morning first thing. And that is to dismantle the stove pipe and give it a really good clean from top to bottom. Half an hour after lighting the fire this evening, the fire went out and a huge cloud of black sooty smoke blew back into the attic. Now, I smell like a kipper.

And it’s a good job that it’s not all that cold in here this evening.

I’d noticed for the last couple of days that the window on the stove was sooting up quickly, and that’s clearly the reson why. The stove pipe is all blocked with soot. I do remember a good few years ago making a vow that each summer I ought to dismantle the pipe and clean it, but of course I haven’t done that for a couple of years and this is the result. I shall have to sort it out tomorrow.

As for today, it’s Sunday so I haven’t done a thing. I had a nice lie-in until about 10:00 and since then I’ve just been pottering about. I’ve been outside a few more times than yesterday, but not too many.

And here’s a surprise – there’s been no rain during the last 24 hours. I can’t remember when this last happened but it wasn’t within living memory, that’s for sure. And we had some very blue sky today, the first time since I don’t know when too.

-1

Monday 24th December 2012 – Merry Christmas everyone

I hope that Santa brings you everything that you deserve this morning.

As for me today though, I’ve had the best fire here this evening that I have ever had, and I’m so delighted. After the usual breakfast and bits and pieces I dismantled the stove pipes. I’ve ruined about three brushes and all kinds of things, but it was necessary as the pipes were totally choked with ash and tar and all kinds of stuff. Hardly an air passage in sight, no wonder that the fire wouldn’t draw.

Anyway, the pipes are now thoroughly cleaned, jointed and reinstalled exactly as they should be, and the fire this evening burnt beautifully, even demolishing a large log on the lowest air setting. Even more exciting was the fact that the glass in the window remained mostly clear with hardly a trace of soot. That’s a first.

Apart from that, I wrapped up the presents and toddled off to Marianne’s to deposit hers. We had quite a chat too for a couple of hours, and that was quite pleasant.

So that’s it. Tomorrow I’m supposed to be having a day off but that’s unlikely as, if all goes according to plan, I’ll be having visitors and so I’ll need to cook. That will be exciting.

Anyway, Merry Christmas to you all.

-3

Thursday 27th August 2009 – WORK ON THE ATTIC …

fitting of chimney tube into wall les guis virlet puy de dome france… has started in earnest this morning. And in fact if I had been able to find my heavy bolster chisel when I started to look for it instead of having to search for two (yes, two) hours to find it, I would have started this morning.

I’ve whacked a huge hole in the wall that took me through into the chimney, and I’ve passed in a piece of enamel piping 125mm in diameter. This is the outlet for the woodstove that I will be putting up here for the winter to keep me warm memo – buy a woodstove.

I then mixed a huge bucket full of cement and cemented up the hole around the pipe and filled in the cracks that were in the wall. when I finished that, it was 18:00 to the second, so I knocked off. Not like last night where I was so carried away by enthusiasm that I was still working at 19:15 when I noticed the time.

You can always tell when I’m absorbed in an interesting job by how late it is when I knock off.

12 volt LED lightbulbs les guis virlet puy de dome franceThis morning I went chaud-pied to St Eloy to get the LED lights. And, major disappointment, they only had 7 GU10s, 7 MR16s and 6 E14s.

Needless to say, after I had left they didn’t have any at all.

They also had a few cans of the wood treatment that I like (albeit increased in price to 8.99 instead of 7.99) and they are two tins lighter of that stuff now too. It’s very good stuff, this LIDL wood treatment.

I went to Pionsat afterwards to pick up my new bank card and to empty the chemical toilet when I get the time, get the new improved beichstuhl up and running.

While I was emptying the toilet, a woman came in to use the facilities. She made about half a pace in, grabbed her nose, said “God, it stinks in here” and piddled off, giving me a huge grimace. And that took me completely by surprise – I had thought my chemical toilet was known the whole world over by now.

And back home, while looking for the bolster chisel I measured up everything that I’m going to need to do my room. It’s going to stretch my budget considerably but then again, comfort has its price but it is its own reward.

And talking of cracks, an ugly crack appeared on the wall of the OUSA office the other day. But Als Ryan had it papered over before Turdi de Hatred could read it.

-5