Questions regarding wood (?) fireplace for first time homeowner.

[PoisonGoomba]

Hello.

I recently purchased my first home. The house was built in 1920, colonial style, and has a fireplace.

I called a chimney sweep that has been doing work for over 30 years in our area, and he quoted $50 to come out and inspect it. Which is fine, but I am worried that he will just tell us the fireplace is useless and I am out 50 bucks.

Is there anything I can inspect myself that will tell me more about the fireplace/chimney and tell whether or not it is functioning?

There is a capped gas pipe on the floor inside the fireplace, but otherwise no dials or valves or anything like that.

I have read that a lot of older homes do not have liners inside brick chimneys. Is it dangerous to use a fireplace like this, even if I just wanted to once or twice a year?

I am happy to provide detailed photos if needed.

Thanks!

 

[Simonkenton]

Post lots of pics.
There is plenty that can go wrong with a 90 year old fireplace, that would make it unsafe to use.
Back in the seventies I was renting a house built in 1910, it had a brick fireplace. We used that fireplace all the time, never got it inspected and never had a problem. We were young and dumb and we were in the "ignorance is bliss" school.
Someone converted yours to gas but that doesn't necessarily mean it can't be used with wood, maybe they just didn't like the hassle of burning wood.

I sounds like you did a pretty good job if finding a good chimney sweep to inspect. Some of these inspectors use cameras, so that if there is a problem they can show you the video.
At any rate you do need to get a qualified expert out there to inspect the thing.

 

[black smoke signals]

Not so quick here! Old gas pipes inside hearth?Are you going with a gas stove?If not and switching to wood stove or insert then myself would yank out the old pipes or at least verify there is not gas at the cap.

 

[bholler]

You can check to see if there are liners in it if not it is unsafe to use. If there are liners then you need to get it inspected to see if they are in good shape. The gas line is no big deal just shut it off disconnect it and cap it.

 

[PoisonGoomba]

He is coming to inspect today at noon, so I guess I am out the 50 bucks regardless. I will keep you posted with what he says. Here is a pic from inside the fireplace, looking up into the chimney, but I don't know that this alone would be any help...

 

[Simonkenton]

Don't worry about 50 bucks. We are trying to keep your house from burning down.

 

[bholler]

I Think I see a 12x12liner up there. It is pretty dirty though it will need cleaned for sure. After that I would recommend running a camera through it to check the condition of the liners. And all of that is going to cost more than $50

 

[PoisonGoomba]

So, turns out it is a gas fireplace. Didn't realize those would be common in 1920.

He wants to clean it, put a cap on the chimney, and says the damper is in disrepair, so it will need fixed. For his services including the parts and cap he is quoting between 400-500 bucks just to get it in a state of repair so that the plumber can come in and install gas logs. To me this seems a little ridiculous, but looking at the cap size I probably need they run around 150 bucks.