Gateshead · Tyne and Wear
Gateshead sits just across the Tyne from our Newcastle base, and we install stoves throughout the town, from the steep terraced streets of Bensham and Deckham to the bay-windowed houses of Low Fell and the estates around Felling and Wrekenton. A good stove can turn a draughty through-lounge or a chilly back room into the warmest part of the house.
Before anything is fitted, we visit for a site assessment. We look at the chimney, the floor, the room and how you plan to use the stove, then explain what Gateshead Council's smoke control rules mean for your street. You get a written quote that sets out the work clearly, so you can decide in your own time.
Much of central Gateshead was built in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, as the town grew around the river, the railways and the works along its banks. Bensham, Saltwell and Shipcote are known for long terraces, many of them laid out as Tyneside flats, climbing the hillside above the town centre. These homes normally have chimneys, but the flues are old and narrow and frequently run alongside a neighbour's, so lining the flue is usually part of the job.
Low Fell offers more variety: substantial Victorian and Edwardian houses near Durham Road, with tall stacks and decent-sized fireplaces, alongside inter-war semis on the slopes towards Chowdene. Felling, Sheriff Hill and Wrekenton have a large share of twentieth-century council-built and private semis, where chimneys may have been blocked up or removed. Newer flats and houses, including the riverside developments, often have no chimney at all.
Where there is a working stack, a stainless liner connects the stove safely to the top of the chimney. Where there is none, an insulated twin-wall flue can be used instead. Either way the stove needs a compliant hearth and enough air to burn properly.
Gateshead Council says the vast majority of the borough has been designated a smoke control area, though a number of areas are exempt. The council publishes a list of exemptions, so it is worth checking your own address rather than assuming. Inside a smoke control area you must either burn an authorised smokeless fuel or use a DEFRA-exempt appliance that is approved for burning wood.
Whatever stove you choose, the wood matters. Small bags and nets of firewood sold in England must now carry the Ready to Burn mark, showing a moisture content of no more than 20%. Damp logs smoke, tar the flue and waste heat. You can find the council's guidance and the exemptions list on its smoke control page.
Our services in Gateshead
From replacing a tired old gas fire in a Low Fell semi to fitting a first stove in a Bensham terrace, most Gateshead projects combine several of the services below. We explain which ones your home needs after the site assessment.
Planning and fitting a new wood-burning stove or log burner, from checking your chimney and hearth to commissioning the stove and talking you through using it safely. We plan and fit wood-burning stoves for homes in Newcastle, across Tyne & Wear and the wider North East, starting with a site assessment so the stove suits your room, your chimney and the local smoke control rules.
Fitting multi-fuel stoves that can burn wood or approved smokeless fuels, with the right liner, hearth and air supply, and clear advice on what you can legally burn locally. A multi-fuel stove can burn logs or approved smokeless fuels, which gives you flexibility through a North East winter. We fit them in homes across Newcastle, Tyne & Wear and beyond, and make sure you know what you can…
Swapping an old, oversized or inefficient stove for a modern Ecodesign model, with the chimney, liner, hearth and ventilation checked so the new stove works safely. If your current stove is old, smoky, cracked or simply the wrong size, we can replace it with a modern model. We serve homes in Newcastle, across Tyne & Wear and the wider North East, and check the whole installation…
Lining existing chimneys and fitting new flue systems for stoves, including twin-wall flues for homes without a chimney, all planned around a proper inspection first. A stove is only as safe as the flue it's connected to. We assess chimneys and plan lining or new flue systems for homes in Newcastle, across Tyne & Wear and the wider North East, usually as part of a stove installation.
Preparing hearths and fireplace openings for a stove, from opening up a blocked fireplace to laying a new hearth that meets the regulations and suits your room. The hearth and fireplace opening are where safety and looks meet. We prepare hearths and fireplace openings for stoves in homes across Newcastle, Tyne & Wear and the wider North East, as part of planning a stove…
Before you choose a stove
Most of the borough is covered by smoke control orders, but not every part. Gateshead Council publishes a document listing the exempt areas. Checking it before you choose a stove helps you decide whether you need an exempt appliance or whether a standard Ecodesign model would be enough for your address.
Gateshead has 22 conservation areas, including Low Fell, Saltwell, Sheriff Hill, Chowdene and Walker Terrace/Regent Street close to the town centre. A new external flue or a change to a chimney on the front of a house in one of these areas may need planning advice first, so ask the council if you are unsure.
Terraced streets in Bensham and Deckham often have stacks shared between two or more homes, each carrying several flues. Knowing which flue belongs to you, and whether next door's is in use, helps us plan a safe installation. A smoke test during the site assessment confirms the flue is sound before anything is lined.
Many older Gateshead homes have timber suspended floors, while post-war houses often have solid concrete. A cast iron stove and stone hearth are heavy, and the hearth must be non-combustible and large enough for the stove. Looking at what is under your existing fireplace is a useful first step.
A stove heats the room it sits in very effectively, but it will not replace central heating for a whole house. Think about which room you use most in the evenings, how open-plan the ground floor is and where you would store a season's worth of logs or smokeless fuel.
Gateshead was historically part of County Durham, facing Newcastle across the narrowest point of the lower Tyne. In 1854 a huge explosion and fire on the quayside destroyed most of the town's medieval buildings and caused damage on the Newcastle bank too, which is partly why so much of today's town is Victorian or later.
Industry shaped what followed. In the 1930s the Team Valley Trading Estate was built to ease unemployment, and for a time it was the largest purpose-built trading estate in the country. Joseph Swan lived at Underhill in Low Fell, the first house in the world to be wired for domestic electric light.
In recent decades the town has reinvented its riverside with the Baltic, in a converted flour mill, the Millennium Bridge of 2001 and The Glasshouse music centre, while Antony Gormley's Angel of the North has stood over the southern approaches since 1998. Saltwell Park, with its Victorian towers, remains a favourite green space.
Map of Gateshead
Loads OpenStreetMap, which receives your IP address. Open the map in a new tab.
FAQs
If your address falls within one of Gateshead's smoke control areas, which covers most of the borough, then yes. A DEFRA-exempt stove is designed and tested to burn wood with very little smoke. If your address is in an exempt area, a standard Ecodesign stove may be used, provided the installation meets Building Regulations.
Fitting a solid-fuel stove is notifiable building work. It has to be either self-certified by an installer registered with a competent person scheme or approved through Gateshead Council's Building Control service. You should receive paperwork confirming compliance, which is worth keeping with your house deeds for when you sell.
Sometimes. A ground-floor Tyneside flat with its own chimney is often suitable. Flats in modern blocks are harder, because a flue may have to pass through other properties or communal areas and the freeholder's consent will usually be needed. We can give an honest view at the site assessment.
Before fitting, we inspect the chimney, check the stack and pots, and carry out a smoke test to look for leaks into other rooms or neighbouring homes. Many old Gateshead chimneys need a liner to work well with a modern stove, and the chimney should be swept regularly once the stove is in use.
Yes. When a solid-fuel appliance is installed, Building Regulations require a carbon monoxide alarm in the same room, wherever you live. We fit one at the time of installation. Press the test button every few weeks, and swap the unit for a new one once it passes the expiry date printed on it.
Send us a few details and photos and we will arrange a site assessment and a clear written quote.
From our blog
Regulations & safety
The whole of Newcastle upon Tyne is a smoke control area. Here is what that means for a log burner: exempt appliances, authorised fuels, the penalties that now apply, and how to check elsewhere in the region.
Buying guides
Kilowatts, room sizes and rules of thumb, explained simply. Why an oversized stove causes problems, how insulation changes the picture, and when extra ventilation is needed under Building Regulations.
Stove advice
Not every chimney needs a liner, but many older ones do. Here is how installers decide, what the main liner options are, and how a chimney's condition is checked before and after a stove goes in.