November 6, 2009

Restoring Bricked-in Fireplace?

Hi,

We recently purchased a gut renovated brownstone duplex apartment(done in 1994) and the living room and dining room (above each other) have bricked in fire places. I can see the outline of cement where the bricks have been placed.

Would it be possible to have the fireplace reopened and made functional once again? Any advice would be much appreciated as I know very little about this sort of thing! (and will eventually consult an expert...)

Thanks!

October 28, 2009

Gas fireplace installation

Im looking to install a gas fireplace in my condo.. does anybody have a good installer i can call? Any idea what price will be?

October 27, 2009

Fireplace Advice

We are getting estimates on a putting in a wood burning fireplace for our living room and would like to see if any readers have advice on our two scenerios. We live in Ditmas Park in a 100 year old wood frame. All fireplaces were removed in the 1950's. Currently, one of the two originally flues still exists but houses our heating pipes and acts as a flue for our steam boiler. Originally the chimney had two flues only one remains. We've gotten two estimates to rebuild a fireplace and both companies suggested moving the plumbing outside the house into a stainless steel housing to free up the flue for the wood burning fireplace. My gut is telling me that I shouldn't mess with the old steam pipes for our heating. The numbers come in around 10,000 to 14,000. which includes moving the plumbing and rebuilding a fireplace. The other idea is to leave the old flue as is and poke a hole through the wall and run a new chimney, probably made of stainless steel, up the side of the house. Has anyone ever done this? The chimney guys say that it might be a red flag if we ever try and sell the house and are discouraging of the idea. I sort of don't trust their advice, since they probably would prefer the more expensive route of restoring the original chimney. I just wanted to hear the thoughts and experiences of other homeowners who aren't financially vested in our decision. Any ideas would be appreciated. Thanks!

October 17, 2009

Need Small Fireplace Screen

I'm looking for screen for a working fireplace in a brownstone but the ones I'm seeing at fireplace stores are all far too big for the opening of this fireplace, which is small -- 19" wide x 21" high -- set in a traditional marble mantle. Anyone know if there's a place, preferably in Brooklyn, to find nice-looking traditional wrought iron screens that fit these sorts of small openings? Used would be fine, too.

October 1, 2009

TV Above Working Fireplace?

Hi all,

Considering opening up the fireplaces in a 4 story b'stone and was wondering if we go through with this - are we able to mount a flat screen above the fireplace???

Haven't seen this addressed before and can't find anything in the archives.

Thanks, guys.

September 18, 2009

Making Fireplaces Functional

We have several fireplaces in our b'stone which we are interested in making functional - gas, not wood-burning. Does anyone have any idea of what the process is to make this happen? How long does it take? Any idea on the cost? Also, there are 3 in our owner's duplex and 4 in the rental duplex - we only want ours to work.

Thanks, brownstoners.

September 14, 2009

Woodstove Info

Hi All, Does anyone know where to find NYC Building Code info relating to Woodstove placement? Thanks!

August 30, 2009

Empire Fireplace and Chimney, Inc.

Has anyone had any experience with them? I'm considering using them to install a woodburning stove in my fireplace.

fireplace renovation

My husband and I have removed the dry wall from our living room walls to expose the brick. Behind the dry wall, we've found a fireplace! What a wonderful surprise, right? Wrong. It appears the fireplace/chimney needs some major work. We need to replace bricks in the wall, but how do we go about finding such bricks? Also, should we look for a general contractor to rebuild or someone who specializes in Brownstone reno. Please help

August 25, 2009

Fireplace Design Help, Please

I'm entering the final stretch of a grueling reno, and have to make a decision on what to do with 3 fireplace "hearths" on the parlor level...the stone area where the fireplace spills into the room. One will be wood burning, the others will not be used.

I'm thinking carrera for one that will stay non functioning, but unsure whether to tile or go with a stone slab for the others.

My floors are 4 in pine (original subfloor) in a natural finish, surrounds/mantles are marble.

Anyone have some pics of what they've done or links for inspiration?

Forum: Fireplace/Mantle