The damn fireplace again...
So... where did we leave off? There was fire?
Short answer? There will be no more fire.
Long answer? Well...
We had a company come in to extend the hearth. And then guy was SUPER knowledgeable. Sits on the western Canadian board of... fireplace folks? Anyway, he knows his stuff. And the hearth, close enough. The chimney itself? Not a wood burning chimney.
It was apparently originally designed to burn coal, in an insert. And it would have heated the house. Sometime in the 70's (judging from the non-original 70's brick facade - which I thought was original...) it was converted (although not REALLY converted) to wood. It is too small to handle the wood fires and the chimney can't handle the heat.
So, Two options. Tear the entire chimney down and rebuild it. OK. We get wood fires! But then? We also lose the AMAZING original chimney bricks outside. Which were apparently made IN OUR FRONT YARD. But it would need to me made wider, and there isn't enough brick. Making it in the yard not as much of an option now. And then there would need to be holes cut in the roof, to widen it. Sucks.
Option 2. Put a gas insert in. Instant fire, but not a WOOD fire. No smells of wood. No smores making. And aesthetics... I initially envisioned the kind of gas insert we have in our basement. Something out of the 90's... And then we found out that they make actual pretty gas inserts that would look good in an old house (example below).
And this is a trick of the camera, it's black. Not green. And slightly (just slightly) cheaper.
As an aside. I canNOT type the word chimney without a typo. Makes these last posts "fun". Back to the real story.
We have been sitting on the quotes, thinking it through. And there is no magical answer. Neither is perfect.
But the gas insert it is. We will start the process to get it replaced. And then, over time, maybe rebuild the inside facade to something more like this:
We wanted to add the bookcases to either side already, add a facade like this and it would make the home even more Arts and Craft-ish.
The saga continues.
So, does anyone need some wood? We have BAGS of birch we can't do a thing with...
Short answer? There will be no more fire.
Long answer? Well...
We had a company come in to extend the hearth. And then guy was SUPER knowledgeable. Sits on the western Canadian board of... fireplace folks? Anyway, he knows his stuff. And the hearth, close enough. The chimney itself? Not a wood burning chimney.
It was apparently originally designed to burn coal, in an insert. And it would have heated the house. Sometime in the 70's (judging from the non-original 70's brick facade - which I thought was original...) it was converted (although not REALLY converted) to wood. It is too small to handle the wood fires and the chimney can't handle the heat.
So, Two options. Tear the entire chimney down and rebuild it. OK. We get wood fires! But then? We also lose the AMAZING original chimney bricks outside. Which were apparently made IN OUR FRONT YARD. But it would need to me made wider, and there isn't enough brick. Making it in the yard not as much of an option now. And then there would need to be holes cut in the roof, to widen it. Sucks.
Option 2. Put a gas insert in. Instant fire, but not a WOOD fire. No smells of wood. No smores making. And aesthetics... I initially envisioned the kind of gas insert we have in our basement. Something out of the 90's... And then we found out that they make actual pretty gas inserts that would look good in an old house (example below).
And this is a trick of the camera, it's black. Not green. And slightly (just slightly) cheaper.
As an aside. I canNOT type the word chimney without a typo. Makes these last posts "fun". Back to the real story.
We have been sitting on the quotes, thinking it through. And there is no magical answer. Neither is perfect.
But the gas insert it is. We will start the process to get it replaced. And then, over time, maybe rebuild the inside facade to something more like this:
We wanted to add the bookcases to either side already, add a facade like this and it would make the home even more Arts and Craft-ish.
The saga continues.
So, does anyone need some wood? We have BAGS of birch we can't do a thing with...
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