Fireplace & Wood Heater Installation in Melbourne — Done Properly.

The Appliance Is Half the Job — the Flue Is the Other Half

Whether you’re fitting a freestanding wood heater, a slow-combustion stove or a fireplace insert, the chimney side of the job is what makes it safe and effective. That means the right flue or liner, sized to the appliance, correct clearances to combustibles, and a proper cap and flashing where it exits the roof.

FreshDuct handles that chimney work — lining an existing masonry chimney, or installing and flashing a new flue — so your heater vents safely and draws well from day one. We’ll also point you to the relevant Victorian wood heater rules and slow-combustion install requirements.

Getting it right at install time avoids the classic problems — a smoky heater, poor heat output, or an unsafe flue — that are expensive to fix afterwards.

The Chimney Side of Your Install

Everything between the appliance and the sky:

Where licensed electrical or specialist trades are needed for your specific appliance, we coordinate them so the whole job is handled.

Draw, Heat and Safety All Start at the Flue

A correctly sized, well-installed flue is what lets a wood heater do its job: it creates the draught that pulls air through the fire, carries combustion gases safely outside, and keeps heat away from the surrounding structure. Undersize it, or skip the clearances, and you get smoke, poor heat and a safety risk.

That’s why the chimney work is worth getting right at install time, by people who do it every day. A heater installed with the proper flue, clearances and cap simply works — and keeps working — rather than becoming a smoky, frustrating problem you’re calling someone back to diagnose.

Liner Sizing, Clearances and the Rules That Apply

The most common cause of a disappointing wood heater is a mismatched flue. A liner that’s too large for the appliance cools the gases and weakens the draught; one that’s too small chokes it. Manufacturers specify a flue size for a reason, and matching it is the difference between a heater that lights and draws effortlessly and one that smokes and sulks.

Clearances matter just as much for safety. A wood heater and its flue must keep set distances from timber, plasterboard and other combustibles, and the flue must be properly supported and sealed where it passes through the roof. These aren’t optional niceties — they’re what stops a flue fire reaching the structure.

In Victoria there are also rules around wood heater installation and where flues must terminate. We work to those requirements and point you to the relevant Victorian wood heater rules and slow-combustion install guidance so you know the job is being done correctly, not cut.

Where your install needs a licensed electrician or another specialist trade — for certain appliances or connections — we coordinate that around the chimney work so it’s handled as one job, finished with a cap, flashing and a confirmed safe draw.