Adding a fireplace/ Chimney to an existing home

[goodoleboy]

Our home was built in 2000 I would like to add a fireplace. From what i gathered from informated family and freinds where we want it placed would be exactly where it would go if it were a new construction. The purpose of the fireplace is to add an wood insert.

Question is has anyone done this and how much are we looking at paying for this? We just want a basic brick fireplace nothing fancy..Any ball park figures would be appreciated.


Thanks

 

[BB_TX]

I'm not going to have many answers, but I do have questions that I think would affect the cost. Is this on an outside wall? Is the house brick? Will it require opening up the wall, pouring a pad attached to the foundation, and splicing the brick chimney into the house? Or is it on an inside wall and going up thru the ceiling and roof? Are you on a slab or pier and beam? Basement maybe?

 

[bczoom]

Same questions as BB but a couple more as well:

When you say "brick fireplace" are you talking about the wood box only or a full chimney as well?

Are you going to put an insert inside the fireplace you build?

Brian

 

[Egon]

Sounds to me like it will be a fully new addition to the house.

Cost may best be determined by getting an estimate. Costs can vary considerably from location to locacation due to many different reasons.

Sorry I can't answere your question.

Egon

 

[ericinmich]

I can only comment on fireplace choices in a new build, but the same questions need to be asked/answered.

Do you want a 'real' fireplace (ie. brick and mortor bottom to top)? If so, a real footing/foundation for it is manditory to hold the weight. If so, the price is 2 to 3 times as much as a 'fake' one with a box and metal flue with a fake stone face.

We ended up with three 'fake' ones with 'fake' ledgestone that are great looking... for about the price of one real one.

Good Luck,
Eric

 

[HomeBrew2]

Just for the record ... if you are going to the trouble of a fireplace just to put an insert in it, I'd sure have to lean towards a wood stove with a big glass window-door instead ...

 

[beenthere]

I'd estimate around $10-12,000 to have it put in, and that would be on the low side.

 

[woodlot]

Thats exactly what I was thinking. Why put in a fireplace and then put an insert in it? Basicly what your trying to do is build a wood stove, why not just get a wood stove. If your trying to use this as a heat source for your home thats what you want. If you want a decrotive wood flames for the ambience it creates get a fireplace.

If you're ok with burning gas consider a direct vent unit. They heat excellantly and no chimney is needed, perfect for a remodel. They usually vent out a side wall with a special "pipe-in-a-pipe" vent.

For wood I'd consider an insulated triple wall sainless pipe (a chimney). I'd think masonary would be a real headache. Consider professional help and advice for this. Each home is unique and distances to combustibles are critical.

You can have a brick or rock fireplace without a true masonary hearth/chimney. The units, including gas direct vents, can be built into a chase that gets covered with face brick or cultured stone. You'd never know they are not true masonary. I have a direct vent firplace that is being done like this. In fact I'm placing the rock myself and I'm about 1/2 way done (tip: be sure to order enough rock the first time). I could post a pic if you would like.

 

[Gomez]

As others have posted, I would install a stove rather than an insert. I installed an insert (Lopi Freedom) in 2000, only because the fireplace was already there. It heats the house OK, but needs a circulation blower to do the job. The radiant heat of a stove can't be beat. Most inserts are stoves without legs and a faceplate added.

Take a look at hearthnet link

Good Luck!

 

[JJT]

I did just that at our previous house. Installed a zero clearance fireplace and stainless steel chimney in 2 weekends for under $1200. I'm sure prices have gone up, but they are fairly simple to install, even with an inlet for outside combustion air. The chimney was almost as much as expensive as the fireplace.

 

[gsganzer]

Here's the fireplace I had built for our new addition. It's real stone veneer, but the fireplace is a zero clearance with a lined flue pipe. This setup greatly reduced the cost (About $4k savings) compared to a true masonry fireplace. This one actually has another fireplace on the outside, with it's own flue (next post). The total cost was approximately $6,000 including the stone, labor, fireplace inserts etc.

 

[gsganzer]

Exterior fireplace

 

[Highbeam]

The only reason I can think of to put the insert in rather than a woodstove is for floor space. Maybe no room for the real deal? The insert is bit of a compromise but is very capable of heating the room and looks more modern than a black box. I prefer the free standing as I appreciate the old rustic style and utility.

The hearth site gives a lot of info about chimneys. There is almost no place for brick in their ideal chimney setup. An exposed pipe straight up to the high point of the ceiling and then poke through the roof and terminate. The more pipe in your heated space the better. Plus the pipe looks cool and radiates heat.

 

[goodoleboy]

---- I'm not going to have many answers, but I do have questions that I think would affect the cost. Is this on an outside wall? Is the house brick? Will it require opening up the wall, pouring a pad attached to the foundation, and splicing the brick chimney into the house? Or is it on an inside wall and going up thru the ceiling and roof? Are you on a slab or pier and beam? Basement maybe? -------

The fireplace will be placed on an outside wall, there is a concrete porch which is an extension of the homes foundation. I would have to go through the ceiling and the porch area celing.Ive looked at simialr homes with existing fireplaces and It would be in the same Spot with the same obstacles. So I it would be were a builder would put it. We dont want a freestanding stove due to insurance headaches my agent told me about.
With children running around I dont their first steps to be into a hot oven which is less likely with an insert due to only 1 exposed hot surface as oppsoed to the 5 hot areas(top,sides,back) with a stove.

 

[erich]

We have a masonry heater and it beats a stove hands down. Unless the temp is 10 or below we only light two fires a day with about 25 Lbs of wood. The fire burns hot and fast. It takes about 2-2 1/2 hrs to burn out. We then close up the damper and air intake. The heater radiates heat for 12 hrs. It has a flywheel effect. It takes about twelve hours from the first firing to feel the surface heat up. After that , as long as you keep firing it on 12 hr intervals it stays hot. The best part is that when we go to bed there is no fire so no worry about chimney fires. The fire is so hot that there is no creosote build up. I clean the chimney once a year and what little build up there is is just powder. We burn about 3 1/2 cords of wood a year to heat about 1600 sq feet.

Eric

 

[newbury]

I think adding new fireplace/chimney is an good idea but it will be difficult for you to do it alone. You can take help from professional chimney liner near long island, as they have relevant experience and it is good for your home.

RobertAnderson reads like a spammer - 3 posts about chimney liner installation, this one on a thread 11 years dead.

 

[GLyford]

So flag him. Triangle with an exclamation point on the bottom left. You can leave comments for the admins so they know why you think so, and they seem to be pretty good about removing users and posts.