The Dirty Business of Fireplace Renovation
A reader who’s in the midst of a project to convert two of the fireplaces in his Clinton Hill brownstone to wood-burning and reline three of his flues sends in a mid-project report. So far everything’s going well, if a little slow: So far, the workers have been very careful to protect the existing mantels…
A reader who’s in the midst of a project to convert two of the fireplaces in his Clinton Hill brownstone to wood-burning and reline three of his flues sends in a mid-project report. So far everything’s going well, if a little slow: So far, the workers have been very careful to protect the existing mantels and surrounding parquet floors with rosin paper. We can imagine that having to witness holes getting punched in the walls might be a little traumatic, but since the flues aren’t straight, it’s the only way to go in this case. Getting down to the boiler from the ground-floor kitchen has proven to be the trickiest part of the job so far because the original hearth in the kitchen, which serves as the foundation for the three fireplaces above it, gets very narrow in places. Ultimately, the workmen were able to get the piping through it though. When the job’s complete, we’ll have a final report. In the meantime, check out the slideshow on the link. Update: The slideshow should be working now.
Fireplace Reno Slideshow [Flickr]
Bob, can you explain what a gravity hot air furnace was? My house was also built in the 1890’s, and has 6 gas fireplaces (currently not being used), and a steam system. I’m assuming the steam system is not original, but I’ve been wondering when it was installed, and how was the house heated before they had steam?
This gas–woodburning debate has come up often in my own household. My wife wants a woodburner and I (pedantic purist that I am) want gas, because it was original to our 1899 house. The result is that, 33 years after buying our house, none of the six fireplaces work ;-(
When my house was built the fireplaces were an important supplement to the gravity hot air furnace, which couldn’t cope with the coldest winter days. Gas fireplaces were the latest modern convenience since they were used frequently [And, I suspect, they were much cheaper for developers to build]–who wanted messy old-fashioned wood? .The WW I era colonial-revival rowhouses in my neighborhood, built with steam heat radiators, all have real woodburning fireplaces, but only one of them since it was an ornamental luxury.
Good point, Guest 8:28, if you could put in a gas burner that looked like the originals. But most of the gas fireplaces people buy today are those tacky drop-in inserts. I wonder if you could re-vamp one of those old-style gas burners? That could be really cool.
Rehab, I agree with you that a wood fireplace is nicer, but I believe most fireplaces in brownstones were originally built for gas. So there is nothing “plasticky” about burning gas in them, because that was their original purpose.
Fortgreener, I posted the costs above. Both fireplaces are on the parlor level, the boiler is of course in the basement, and the house is four stories. I do like a wood stove, and they certainly give better heat than a fireplace. But here we wanted fireplace we.
Bob, Yes, they were gas. We were really hoping to put in firebrick and put those iron panels back in on top of it, but installers told us they wouldn’t withstand the heat. (we still have those covers on other fireplaces, and we’ll use them for something cool somewhere)
Thanks, both of ya. Pls wish us luck with the draft!
Rehab,
From the look of the original metal linings in your fireplaces, I’d guess that they were built for gas (like the ones in my 1899 house). Am I correct?
Rehab,
Couple of questions:
-How many flues total and # or floors for each?
-Cost per flue/floor height?
Have you thought about a masonary stove or a tile stove with a viewing window? Best place would be downstairs if any extra weight support would be needed from the basement.
Thanks for your great posts!
-FortGreener
That must be painful to see those walls get broken open. I love the wall colors and hope you have extra paint to fix them back up…
We never even considered a gas fireplace– can’t stand those things. I love a real fireplace; lighting it, tending it, the sound, the smell–for me there’s just no substitute. It seems particularly ersatz to me to put such a plasticky sort of thing in an old house. Of course, I understand the convenience issue for many people who would never bother with a real fireplace, but for me, that’s a pleasure, not a chore. (Not unlike cooking food from scratch instead of buying TV dinners.)
As for getting good firewood delivery in Brooklyn, that’s a question that I was hoping the Brownstoner readers might be able to share with me. Anybody got a good source for dry, dry, dry, quality firewood?
By the way, work continues apace, and Mr. B says he’ll post some pix of the finished results when I send them within a couple days. I’ll name the company that did the work IF the chimney drafts well…