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Message |
    
Onarpos
Citizen
Username: Onarpos
Post Number: 26
Registered: 3-2005
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 8, 2006 - 1:58 pm: | 
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We've now had two fireplace companys out to our house to figure out how to get our fireplace to work. The flue is over to one side and if we ever tried to light a fire, our house would fill with smoke.
The fireplace is really shallow and appears never to have been used (house was built in 1928). Why would they do this? Why would it be built that way? We also have a chimney that runs on the outside of our house that services the boiler.
Has anyone else had a similar experience?
We'd love to have a working fireplace. The one quote we got to get it fixed was $12,000 and would involve rebuilding many parts of both the fireplace and the chimney. |
HOMMELL
Citizen
Username: Hommell
Post Number: 47
Registered: 11-2005
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 8, 2006 - 2:14 pm: |
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Could you post a picture? It is difficult to perceive. Thanks |
melicious
Citizen
Username: Melicious
Post Number: 372
Registered: 6-2002
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 8, 2006 - 2:37 pm: |
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could it be a fireplace meant to burn coal?
I was told that the shallower fireplaces from that era might not be made for wood.
Just a rumor I heard |
Case
Citizen
Username: Case
Post Number: 1244
Registered: 2-2005
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 8, 2006 - 2:39 pm: |
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I had a real stone, complete-with-hearthstone fireplace in the house... it had no flue and no way to connect to the chimney.
Weird, right? I'll be curious to see how this thread plays out. |
Oldstone
Citizen
Username: Rogers4317
Post Number: 613
Registered: 6-2004
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 8, 2006 - 2:41 pm: |
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wasn't a fireplace inspection included in the house inspection before you closed? at that time you should have been told about your fireplace, how it works, if it works, etc. |
rssounds
Citizen
Username: Rssounds
Post Number: 367
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 8, 2006 - 3:23 pm: |
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Call David the Village Sweep 908-756-1807. Also, there may be solutions such as installing an insert with stove pipes. |
Onarpos
Citizen
Username: Onarpos
Post Number: 27
Registered: 3-2005
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 8, 2006 - 3:39 pm: |
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I was told that it probably just never worked. I cannot imagine that one would be installed not to work! Someone else mentioned the coal idea. I've had two reputable chimney companies come out (both highly recommended on this board) with no real good information as to why it doesn't work. Unfortunately, most chimney companies charge you to come out and I can't bear the thought of spending another $100+ on one. Sadly, I don't have a picture to post!
I'm becoming a little obsessed with getting it to work but cannot spend $12,000 and hope there's another solution -- or at least an explanation. I'd love to hear about other experiences or folks who had theirs fixed/re-done and how it all turned out. |
Jennifer
Citizen
Username: Jkohan
Post Number: 64
Registered: 8-2005
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 8, 2006 - 4:03 pm: |
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You CAN get it to work if you install a chimney fan to vent it properly--this is very common in some of the colonials in Mapelwood--and alot of them are very shallow. I don't know why--but i do know that an chimney fan is a possilbe work-around. Worth asking about.
PS--I live in a 1930's colonial with a faux fireplace with no flue and on the other side of the house from the chimney....each colonial on my block has one...wierd, huh? |
LilLB
Citizen
Username: Lillb
Post Number: 1367
Registered: 10-2002
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 8, 2006 - 4:38 pm: |
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Sounds just like what we had, I think. Our house was also built in 1928 or 1935 - not sure which record is correct. We had a very ugly decorative fireplace that did have a gas line running into it with a gas log set, which obviously was put in later, but the chimney had no flue for the fireplace. The only flue in the chimney was for the furnace. We really wanted a working fireplace, so we bit the bullet and had (for around $12,000) a new firebox built and our chimney expanded with another flue. We could have made it wood-burning, but knew we would get more use out of a gas fireplace, so we used the existing gas line and had a new log set put in. There's nothing like a wood-burning fireplace, but we know we wouldn't "build" a fire at night after work...
Best thing we ever did to improve the look and enjoyment of our home. I think that thing was there just for decoration and was never meant to work...
Here are a few pictures - I know I have a few others that show the big hole in our wall when the flue was being built and some pictures of the chimney work, but I don't seem to have those with me at work, so I can't post them now - not sure if I have them digitally or not...
This is a before picture (taken before we moved into the house) -- you can see how small the firebox was and those were the old gas logs - since there was no flue, we would have had to open the windows when using it, which kind of defeats the purpose of having a fire going on a cold winter night....
This an after picture before we put the logs in - firebox was made a little larger and rebuilt. the handle is to the flue they installed:
This is after the log set was put in (the black marks can be brushed off - it's just carbon I think - I've just been too lazy to do it). As you can see the "kids" love it too...
If I can find pictures of the flue/chimney work, I'll post those as well. It really was a huge job, but we use the fireplace all the time now and love it. |
LilLB
Citizen
Username: Lillb
Post Number: 1368
Registered: 10-2002
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 8, 2006 - 4:43 pm: |
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By the way - we had about 5 or 6 chimney companies out to do an estimate for the work, but only found one guy who could actually do the work. He was recommended to us by the Fireplace Place in Summit (which is where we bought the log set). He and his father did a lot of building of chimneys from scratch for new construction so he knows how to build a chimney/flue, etc. I'm sure there must be others that can do this, but we didn't find 'em...
We used Jack Williams and Son 973-284-0867
I think he mentioned the chimney fan thing as well, but for some reason that is escaping me now, we didn't think that was the right solution for us. |
mjc
Citizen
Username: Mjc
Post Number: 1053
Registered: 10-2004
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 8, 2006 - 4:47 pm: |
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My grandparents' house had a small fireplace with a small gas heater in it. I think it was a pretty common thing. Lots of us had unvented no less gas heaters in the house way back when. |
Jgberkeley
Citizen
Username: Jgberkeley
Post Number: 4473
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 8, 2006 - 4:54 pm: |
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Onarpos,
The fire place that you describe was built for burning coal, not wood. At one time it had an Iron coal basket that was on iron wheels and my bet would be that it worked quite well in the day.
I have a picture of one someplace and will look around for it.
Now what to do?
Rebuild, or fans. I'd go fans.
Later,
George |
Project 37
Citizen
Username: Project37
Post Number: 4
Registered: 3-2006
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 8, 2006 - 4:59 pm: |
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Thanks for sharing the photos, LilLB. My wife and I are getting ready to move into an 80 year old house with a decorative (ha!) fireplace. We have the crazy chimney-one-on-side-fireplace-on-the-other deal that Jennifer mentioned. It's really helpful to get a sense of what can be done (not to mention how much it could potentially cost).
Alas, given the other renovations we'd like to do, the fireplace project will have to wait a while...
-Brian |
monster
Supporter
Username: Monster
Post Number: 2381
Registered: 7-2002
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 8, 2006 - 9:40 pm: |
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Were the builders fsckin high back then or what, my fireplace looks just like LiLB's old one, with the gas pipe sticking up through the floor, no flue or chimney. The chimney is in the middle of the house for the furnace and water heater.
I have been thinking of just using a pellet stove in the space (or in front of it), and sticking the exhaust pipe ip through the fireplace and out the wall, don't know how much that may cost, but I bet not as much as having a whole new working chimney put in.
I know the house next to mine is the same, it's an exact copy of my house, minus a couple of changes made here and there. |
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