Being told these vents can be stoned over?

[Mneli24]

Hi all,
We are refacing our wood burning fireplace, no blower or anything. It’s model SC36 by Martin insert. We had a fireplace company here who said the vents on top and bottom could be stoned over and cause no harm by doing it. I question if that is true or not and was looking for feedback.

 

[bholler]

View attachment 230999 Hi all,
We are refacing our wood burning fireplace, no blower or anything. It’s model SC36 by Martin insert. We had a fireplace company here who said the vents on top and bottom could be stoned over and cause no harm by doing it. I question if that is true or not and was looking for feedback.

It is absolutly false. And dont let them back in your house

 

[kennyp2339]

You have what is called and referred to as a zero clearance fire place, these metal boxes are built with vents to keep the outside jacket cool and allows them to be installed in wooden chases, any altering of vents can have dire consequences which can include burning your house down, theres not much you can do with that, but you sure can stone around any other portion of the fireplace, just not over any part of the physical fire place itself, before paying for any expensive materials or labor have the unit inspected, make sure the top outside jacket is not rusted / rotted and the unit can be ran safely ran

 

[Mneli24]

Hi guys,
Thanks so much for your feedback. When the man was here he said he actually used to install these Martin fireplaces. I just happened to have the user manual still as in the pic of it you can see, one model has the vents and the other identical unit just has a solid front price in the picture. He was trying to convince us the vents were a gimmick back then and don’t really provide a function and that is why the same unit could be installed without the vents.

 

[bholler]

View attachment 231085 Hi guys,
Thanks so much for your feedback. When the man was here he said he actually used to install these Martin fireplaces. I just happened to have the user manual still as in the pic of it you can see, one model has the vents and the other identical unit just has a solid front price in the picture. He was trying to convince us the vents were a gimmick back then and don’t really provide a function and that is why the same unit could be installed without the vents.

I would bet the one without vents has that chamber filled with insulation to keep outside temps down

 

[cjgoode]

You need a better fireplace company. Its scary an actual company would tell you this. Like shown above you could replace with a different style firebox if you do not like the vents but it would be $$$$$, but blocking them is very very bad.

 

[Ludlow]

If it has vents you cant block them. That would be altering a tested appliance or installing it in a manner inconsistent with the instructions.

 

[Dataman]

If it has vents you cant block them. That would be altering a tested appliance or installing it in a manner inconsistent with the instructions.

Guys name Donald Pearl. Ha ha. My Contractor told me metal roofing does not need felt (tar paper)under it. And Metal does not need to be laid only 1 way. Make sure you do review of this company so others learn. Or let them do the job and hire lawyer (not really good option, I know I did it and got 16k).

 

[Mneli24]

Thanks guys. Yeah we had him to measure for new doors from a company that manufactures doors and decorative coverings for the vents that allows the airflow. Of the 3 company’s that are vendors for this manufacturer they actually had the best reviews online. Then when he was here he said we could do just the doors and stone over the vents. So guess we will go with our original option of jus the decorative covers and probably do it with one of the other vendors for this company to do the install.

 

[begreen]

The manual has several warnings to not block the vents. Here are a couple examples. It also says to not block the vents in the trimming section. Is English a second language for this fellow?

 

[bholler]

Thanks guys. Yeah we had him to measure for new doors from a company that manufactures doors and decorative coverings for the vents that allows the airflow. Of the 3 company’s that are vendors for this manufacturer they actually had the best reviews online. Then when he was here he said we could do just the doors and stone over the vents. So guess we will go with our original option of jus the decorative covers and probably do it with one of the other vendors for this company to do the install.

You really arent allowed to ise any parts with this type of fireplace that were not designed and tested for use with your unit. That means the after mafket doors should not be used either

 

[Bad LP]

With the past advise that he already gave you that could have resulted in a major fire why on earth would you even think about allowing him back into your home?

 

[RandyBoBandy]

When I bought my house it had a Martin industries freestanding fireplace venting into 8” single wall pipe that was roughly 7” from the wall. I used it twice I think before removing it. It scared the sh%# out of me.

 

[Mneli24]

Wasn’t going to let him come back, there 8 different companies that sell install these type of doors in my area. He was just one vendor. Was going to go with a different vendor. I’ve been in the house 10 years and never had an issue with the function of the fireplace and about 100 homes in my 20 yr old development who have them and never heard of an issue with the actual function. This is the company that makes the doors.

 

[bholler]

View attachment 231162 View attachment 231162 Wasn’t going to let him come back, there 8 different companies that sell install these type of doors in my area. He was just one vendor. Was going to go with a different vendor. I’ve been in the house 10 years and never had an issue with the function of the fireplace and about 100 homes in my 20 yr old development who have them and never heard of an issue with the actual function. This is the company that makes the doors.

Yes lots of companies make doors like that. But they are not tested or listed for use with these systems which means tgey are not code compliant.

 

[Ludlow]

Those are for masonry fireplace openings. I think what the OP is trying to do is create a masonry opening flush to the ZC opening and then put those doors on it to mimic a true masonry fireplace. Again: That would be altering a tested appliance or installing it in a manner inconsistent with the instructions.

 

[Mneli24]

You guys are ruining all my plans. Lol. So what are my options for making this look better and be to code. If I can actually find Martin replacement doors out there or otherwise I have to rip the whole thing out and replace it with something?

 

[bholler]

You guys are ruining all my plans. Lol. So what are my options for making this look better and be to code. If I can actually find Martin replacement doors out there or otherwise I have to rip the whole thing out and replace it with something?

You can paint the brass trim and handles black. And recover around the unit. Other than that it is pretty much just replacement.

 

[kennyp2339]

You guys are ruining all my plans. Lol. So what are my options for making this look better and be to code. If I can actually find Martin replacement doors out there or otherwise I have to rip the whole thing out and replace it with something?

Like I said earlier, get the whole unit inspected before throwing money at it, make sure that the top isn't rusted through from water coming down the chimney.

 

[Mneli24]

Yes I am going to have it inspected. Thanks for all the advice and knowledge from all of you. Glad I found this forum to post on.