Is my fireplace really unusable?

[ctyankee]

The company won't give you access to the pictures? Many people aren't concerned with preservation, but this chimney is an integral part of the heart of the house. If it is torn out and replaced with some prefab, the house will lose a lot of its "feel" and integrity. And you'll know it. I would be advised by the "experts" to rip this unlined stone chimney out and put in a prefab. At the cost of God knows how much. I don't think so. Anyway, good luck with whatever direction you go.

 

[Biggie747]

The company won't give you access to the pictures? Many people aren't concerned with preservation, but this chimney is an integral part of the heart of the house. If it is torn out and replaced with some prefab, the house will lose a lot of its "feel" and integrity. And you'll know it. I would be advised by the "experts" to rip this unlined stone chimney out and put in a prefab. At the cost of God knows how much. I don't think so. Anyway, good luck with whatever direction you go.

That's a huge chimney! The one in my house can't be seen at all. From the mantle up it's fully encased in the wall until the roof. I don't have as much of an issue ripping out the chimney in favor of a safer alternative and then covering it back up just like it is now. It wouldn't change the look and feel of the home as far as I'm concerned. I'm just trying to find a way to save the fireplace.

 

[ctyankee]

The way these things go, once you start removing the chimney itself, the fireplace will be soon to follow. Retrofitting something new onto that fireplace, the fireplace will be deemed a weak link, total rebuild --- and your left with a different fireplace. The "destroying the village in order to save it" phenomenon. I would talk with a traditional mason that does not do stove installs, liners, sweeping etc. Maybe this is your 2nd opinion? You are being told here that this fireplace does not work properly, so that premise leads to total rebuilds, prefabs, etc. I just think it is sensible to do minor work and see how it functions as is. I would insist on seeing the pole inspection pictures first. Then go from there.

 

[bholler]

That's a huge chimney! The one in my house can't be seen at all. From the mantle up it's fully encased in the wall until the roof. I don't have as much of an issue ripping out the chimney in favor of a safer alternative and then covering it back up just like it is now. It wouldn't change the look and feel of the home as far as I'm concerned. I'm just trying to find a way to save the fireplace.

Yeah using a 100 year old chimney hurried in a wall that has zero clearance to combustibles doesn't sound like a good idea at all. Restoration has its place but plumbing electrical and heating systems are not the place

 

[ctyankee]

If this fireplace, chimney is in the end deemed unusable short of a total rebuild and worse, if it were me, I'd pipe a large Jotul stove into. Do the cosmetic repairs, maybe some structural as needed. Possibly, even though the builder did not intend, expose some of the stone slowly to see what look it has. You say you are going to do this anyway. It may look gorgeous, and all the stone can be exposed. You'll have the very fireplace intact that attracted you to the house in the first place. You'll love the Jotul and the fireplace together, and forget about any ambiance of an open fire. I have a Morso stove and think it's great.

 

[begreen]

If the goal is period preservation, then extra cautions need to be made, starting with the inspection. Get a second opinion if necessary from a restoration expert, but don't be surprised to find some hidden issues. They were common, especially in homes built by owner back then. A lot burned down due to these oversights.

Example, this is a bedroom fireplace in the inn that my wife grew up in. It had no central heat. The inn was built by a local CT yankee during the depression out of chestnut logs that were readily available due to blight. One bitter cold winter period during the early 70s we rounded up a bunch of firewood to help heat the place. There is a larger, lower fireplace like this, just below this one. After all day burning the place finally started warming up. We all went to bed after a nice warm evening with fires still burning in both fireplaces. Around 3am we were woken up to a lot of noise and the smell of smoke. We couldn't figure out where the smoke was coming from, but it was most noticeable in the bedroom with the fireplace. We got all the coals into a metal pail put outdoors, but the smoke persisted. By then we could see smoke coming through cracks between the hearthstones. We poured a lot of water over the hearth and eventually the smoke stopped. It turned out the builder had laid the thick hearth on stout timbers that eventually started smoldering. It scares the heck out of me to see the realtor lit a fire for this picture.

 

[EbS-P]

I would consider a less expensive insert with a custom surround that fits the arch or a hearth mounted stove. . I agree it is the center piece of the house. We have a huge sandstone fireplace we put a free standing stove in. Work with what is there. The open fire place will let smoke into the house. I am sensitive to woodsmoke and I quit burning ours after 4 fires and it was a a decent fireplace. Switched to alcohol burners for a few years. It was just ok. Now we have heated with wood for the last two winters and I can just barely smell smoke 5-10 Min after I reload and no real physical effects.

 

[barnaclebob]

It scares the heck out of me to see the realtor lit a fire for this picture.

Most agents photoshop fires into the listing pictures these days. So maybe you can sleep easier.