Making a gas fireplace go away

[nicollet]

Let me apologize in advance for asking a bunch of fireplace enthusiasts to help me get rid of a fireplace! And for not looking very hard in the archive pages to see if my question has already been asked and answered before.

We have moved into a house with a gas fireplace in the den, and it's a nice fireplace, but too big for the room, doesn't go with the decor, and we need the space, so we'd like to divest ourselves of it. Who do I call to disconnect and otherwise uninstall it - local gas utility? heating repair company? fireplace distributor? Is there more to it than shutting off the gas and carting it out the door? I have no idea how it's affixed to the premises.

And do these things have any resale value? I was thinking of offering it on Craigslist to the first person to volunteer to come pick it up, but I was looking at prices of new ones a little bit, and they can be pretty expensive, so maybe I should list it in the want ads or something.

Thanks!

 

[restorer]

Let me apologize in advance for asking a bunch of fireplace enthusiasts to help me get rid of a fireplace! And for not looking very hard in the archive pages to see if my question has already been asked and answered before.

We have moved into a house with a gas fireplace in the den, and it's a nice fireplace, but too big for the room, doesn't go with the decor, and we need the space, so we'd like to divest ourselves of it. Who do I call to disconnect and otherwise uninstall it - local gas utility? heating repair company? fireplace distributor? Is there more to it than shutting off the gas and carting it out the door? I have no idea how it's affixed to the premises.

And do these things have any resale value? I was thinking of offering it on Craigslist to the first person to volunteer to come pick it up, but I was looking at prices of new ones a little bit, and they can be pretty expensive, so maybe I should list it in the want ads or something.

Thanks!

Welcome. We are not going to do anything to you, but solve your problem. First we need to know what kind of stove you have and how it's installed. Taking a fireplace out is no big deal. Disconnecting the fuel supply and making the hardware go away is easy.

What is hard is, what do you plan to do with the space and the flue it left. Total removal is easy, but if you want something to replace it for heat is another matter. Tell us the "Rest of the Story" what you want in the empty hole and we will fill in the space.

 

[Gooserider]

Agreed, it isn't a big deal, but there are different parts involved.

#1 is the gas connection. Unless you are trained in dealing with it, you shouldn't be messing with gas piping as mistakes can put your house in orbit... Probably your favorite plumber can deal with it, and if he can't he'll know who to reccomend. You will need to disconnect the fireplace itself, and possibly remove plumbing back to a point where it isn't in the way and make sure it's properly capped off.

Getting rid of the fireplace itself may or may not be a big problem. Is this definitely an insert type unit, or is it a gas log in a standard fireplace, or what? If you aren't sure, post a few pictures! (shrink to 800x600, med resolution JPG, use the regular "Post Reply" button, NOT the "Fast Reply" and then click on the "Choose" button where it says "Attachments" at the bottom of the reply window. For multiple pictures, hit "Preview Post" after each one and repeat the attachment. You can only get a limited amount of photos per post, so you may need to do multiple posts with one or two shots each)

An insert or free standing unit is usually not to bad to remove, though you may have problems if there is lots of trim or stone work built over it. The unit itself isn't structural, so it's mostly a matter of getting to it and hauling it out. If it's a gas log set that's been retrofitted into a conventional wood burning fireplace you might have more problems.

You may also have to worry about removing some or all of any existing exhaust flue piping. This is probably not suitable for use with any sort of replacement wood or pellet stove, if you are replacing the gas unit with some other kind of heater. If you aren't replacing it, the biggest concern would be to cap it off properly so that you don't have a big heat loss out the old stack, or potential problems with critters, weather, etc. getting in.

Once you have the unit out, you probably can give it away, and possibly can sell it (I'm amazed at the prices people will pay for what appears to me like total junk on e-bay) depending on condition.

Mostly to give good advice we need more pix and information about just what you have.

Gooserider