Coal Parlor Fireplace Conversion
It’s a great relief to have this forum and know that so many have gone through exactly the same issues I have in my renovation. There aren’t many brownstones left in Newark, NJ so i use this site as a great resource for problems that are beyond the comprehension of most of the contactors here…
It’s a great relief to have this forum and know that so many have gone through exactly the same issues I have in my renovation. There aren’t many brownstones left in Newark, NJ so i use this site as a great resource for problems that are beyond the comprehension of most of the contactors here in NJ. That said, it is my turn to contribute.
It has been a source of annoyance for many years that my 7 fireplaces don’t work but are always the first thing everyone notices when they come in. I had flues for the furnace and kitchen relined with stainless steel(and a ton of coal dust removed) at the cost of about $1800 each. This included repointing the two chimeys. I was ok with this since I use these every day and I was told that the stainless steel liners would keep the chimneys intact by stopping the interior walls from collapsing since the mortor is 150 years old. Who knows if this is true; but I bought it.
I spent a couple nights in front of a fire in VT and I decided enough is enough – it’s time to tackle the parlor fireplace. My fireplaces are about 15 inches deep and were origionally coal. My “summer cover” remains in the Dining Room but is long gone in the parlor. There was a three foot blockage so the Chimney guys broke through to the flue on the 2nd floor and cleared the blockage. The flue turns and gets pretty tight in the turn so the flue was chipped open and a 7″ stainless steel liner was installed. Cost for clearing the blockage, patching the hole, installing the liner and damper – $2200. The “smoke box” was also coated with some kind of synthetic mortor to the opening of the new liner.
I had to wait a day and started conservatively with a duraflame log. The whole house smelled and lightly filled with smoke. I called the chimney guys. “Oh, you need to heat the flue first – it happens all the time.” Ok, not so bad. This time i light a duroflame starter log (about 4″ long) then put the duraflame in…not too bad. A couple hours later, the duraflame starts to dwindle and i notice a mild gasy smell and some whisps of smoke. I decide that the flue must have cooled and the draft is no longer working so I assume i need to put a piece of wood on the fire to get the heat up and get the draft going again. Again, the house fills lightly with smoke so i carry the flaming duraflame log and wood through the kitchen and put it in the back yard. I call the chimney guys again. “Well, we were afraid this would happen.” The combination of the turn and the shallow depth of the fireplace mean that I need an Exhausto draft inducer – another $2200 (they came down to $1800 – but no less and its a “special deal only for you”).
After trolling the browstoner archives I am not sure this will work either since it looks like many people have had the mantel taken off and the firebox redone for about $10K. As I mentioned at the beginning, my brownstone is in Newark, not Park Slope so I don’t think i will have the same return on investment. I found a nice Hargrove coal basket on ebay for $400 and decided that this will just have to be good enough.
If I knew from the beginning that I was going to fold and get a gas insert i believe I would have gotten a vent-free insert (i realize these are illegal in NYC) and saved myself a couple thousand dollars. -Live and learn.
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We own a 1870’s townhouse in Downtown Jersey City and like you I was really sad to find out that my fireplaces were basically unusable. We had somebody come in and look at them with camera etc and though the chimney comapany clearly wanted us to try and repair them we were not convinced that it would even work. Ours are also coal burning and had very narrow flues that do not go straight up. Never mind that the hearth is very shallow about 7 inches deep. After much research I found a great solution to my problem. We use gel cartridges which burn clean and don’t need any ventilation. We purchased a log set that looks exactly like a gas log set which is placed directly in the hearth. Cartridges are placed in the log and lit. They burn for 2 to 3 hours. It is a real flame so it looks great and provides some nice heat. Everyone who comes over is so impressed and thinks it is gas. In total I spent a couple of hundred on log set and fancy fireplace screen. Cartridges come in box of 8 (approx. $5 per cartridge). Well worth my investment. Has made my parlor perfect!
I also wanted to mention that my dad lives in a brownstone in Park Slope and a few years back he spent about 4,000 on one of his fireplaces being converted to wood burning. Unfortunately after all of that investment he is unable to use wood in the fireplace because his house and the house next door completely fill up with smoke. Their neighbor actually called the fire dept twice because it got so bad. He is now only able to use duraflame logs. I don’t think he regrets his investment but I can tell you it did not turn out the way he planned.
take a look at
http://www.ventless-gas-logs.com/
http://www.cartridgefireplace.com/index.php – I used
http://www.gascoals.net – really nice accessories
Bob, your fireplaces were gas to start with but don’t work? I’ve never heard of gas fireplaces — I mean, I’ve heard of new ones. I haven’t heard of old ones. I didn’t know there was such a thing.
Mopar,
I’ve never used cannel coal (or had any of my six non-working gas fireplaces converted). I read about it many years ago in Old House Journal and briefly considered having a fireplace converted to burn coal, thinking it might be a simpler job than a wood burning conversion.
effect
Another reason why the smoke may be filling the house is the room temperature is too high which actually causes the house to behave like the chimney. The smoke is drawn to a lower pressure (warmer air).
“LOW PRESSURE: When air warms, its molecules scatter. The air becomes lighter and rises.”
Fireplaces are nice but the tendency to keep the house heat on for the rest of the house will cause the room where the fireplace is located to overheat causing this affect.
The addition of a flue fan will of course solve the pressure problem artificially.
Lots of nice gas inserts at http://www.gascoals.com
Your chimney guys sound reasonable. Will they come to Brooklyn? Can you post thier contact details?
Bob, do you have any handy? I hear it smells like Satan; is that true?
I sympathize with your story and thank you for posting. We’ve also spent quite a bit with less than satisfactory results in some instances. Haven’t attempted any fireplace repairs yet though, so this is good to know.