Final touches and the BCO inspection

Now that I had done the plastering, well sort of done the plastering anyway, I could do the few final touches that were needed. There were nothing big, just fitting the CO detector at the right height, finding a pen to write on the information plate and then putting it up to the fuse board and making the two plates to close the chimney off.

The chimney plates were a little fiddly as I had decided to make them myself from stuff I had knocking about in the garage. The metal I used was going to be a pair of wheel arch guards for my old 7 style kit car, but I ended up using something else. It also means that they're titanium as that's what a mate had spare at work.

The plates were meant to overlap perfectly, but I must have made a slight error on marking out, and made the left hand plate with a wrong angle on it. Not that it matters as you can't see it and they're only there to ensure the hot air rises into the room and not straight up the chimney. Since I sealed the cowl to the chimney pot, there are even any noticeable draughts anyway. But it's something the BCO needs to see so now it's done. The gaps around the edges and between the sections of cement board were later caulked up. Now there's a skim of filler over the plaster, I just need to sand it all flat a final time, and it's ready for paint.

Oh, and the BCO has signed off on it all now too! Which is good, but for my £230 I've had the BCO here for maybe a total of 15 minutes across both visits! Hardly value for money, but it is still cheaper than paying a HETAS certified person to do it.

With the stove done, I've had a bit of time to faff about in the garage, and I've finally wired in the ring main. I've only been trying to get it done for the last 4-5 months! Not that it matters, as we've got the estate agents coming round on Wednesday to value the house. Looks like I'll be looking for a new place on my own soon. :(