Lourens Wurz Projects

Another EXTREME Disappointing Fireplace Installation Experience

My Half Hex fireplace was about 30 years old, so it was time to replace. I was referred to Lourens, a local fireplace guy in my area. He installed new Half Hex in March 2024. As soon as winter rain came the water was running down the inside of the fireplace, and also through the pipe joints inside to the outside of the pipes and then down the pipes, it was bad. Every time i phone Lourens he will come and seal the roof more telling me the roof is leaking and it is not the fireplace. I then send photos to his fireplace supplier showing the water running down the inside and no leaks/water anywhere in my ceiling, so it is not the roof, the supplier immediate reaction was: the pipes (inside the house) are fitted upside down. When i inform Lourens he says it can work both ways, he install them either way. So this continued with me getting Lourens out every time it rains down inside my fireplace. Lourens will come put more sealer on the roof and keep blaming my roof as the problem. I then asked a well known roof company to inspect my roof, they confirmed as well that there is no leaks in my roof, the also notice the fireplace pipes are upside down. Lourens was not interested in their findings, and kept to his believe that the roof is the problem and now it was 18 months later, second winter, lots of more rain. Up until this point i have never used the fireplace yet, it is starting to rust from all the water coming down. So Lourens decide NOT his problem anymore there is nothing more he can do. So i got 2 independent professional fireplace companies to come assess what needs to be done to fix this, the first thing they both said when they walk in is the pipes are upside down. So one of the companies came UN-installed the entire fireplace and RE-installed it. Problem solved. This whole unpleasant experience left me very disappointed in peoples commitment, workmanship & pride. And next time i will check Hello Peter reviews for sure!