Opening up a fireplace
Has anyone had a sealed fireplace opened up and about how much does a job like that cost? I have four that I know are there and have been sealed over. There are open fireplaces on above and below floors on the same line. Thanks!
Has anyone had a sealed fireplace opened up and about how much does a job like that cost? I have four that I know are there and have been sealed over. There are open fireplaces on above and below floors on the same line. Thanks!
i am very interested in hearing about this and any recommendations for people to do the job. I have two in the same line that I would like to open. the person 2 floors above opened theirs already. thanks.
We had a guy named Manny Lasalle do our fireplace (you can find his name and contact info on Brownstoner, that was how we found him). He was extremely honest and more than competent. Best of all, he promised that the job would not be incredibly messy and it wasn’t.
A boatload of sooty junk was carted out of our house, but he and his workers created a plastic tent, which contained all the messy stuff. Plus he has a garage full of old mantles that he sells and installs. For what it’s worth, I also thought he was fair in terms of price. Not the cheapest guy around, but the headaches were minimal (when there was a smoke issue, at the beginning, he came over immediately and resolved it) and we’ve loved making fires this winter.
That said, does anybody have recommendations for a good, reasonably priced wood vender? We ordered, and used, half a cord from one guy and have mixed feelings about him…
I had five fireplaces that were nonworking to deal with. We got rid of one because of structural issues and to make a kitchen where a dining room was.
We made one wood burning, two gas, and left one non working.
The cost was 8-9k for getting the nonworking ones to function so we thought long and hard about which ones were the most important and which ones we would actually use etc. Remember that you will also need a mantel, to break down and rebuild the wall and ceiling for new flue plus painting, fire rated stone, etc. There are a lot of “other” expenses.
Because new flues had to be run and a new fan was installed for each one, it did not matter if there were working ones below or above.
Its a huge investment but you can just do a few or one and make the others look nice.
We got quoted $6K…but haven’t bit yet!
I had same situation. Thought it would easy and envisioned “chipping out” the hidden fireplace and voila: romantic evenings by the fire. Wrong. Huge job. Needed flue liner, exhaust fan and more, not to mention new hearth stone, mantle and firebox. Cost about 12K, not including decorative elements. Be prepared!