1870s victorian home, fireplace help needed.

[jcdm]

I just bought an 1875 victorian...the chimney is currently behind drywall on the inside wall in the living room. However we noticed while looking at it, that the chimney (&fireplace) must have been larger--as a triangular region of the hardwood floor had been replaced (further confirmed by the chimney footprint in the basement). Thus it is our thought that the chimney+fireplace were angled in the living room. The fireplace then would have been against the dining room wall separation complete with french/pocket doors. The question is multiple-fold here (and I apologize if I am posting in the wrong area):
a. has anyone seen a fireplace as I describe, as I have searched google+old design books and have been unable to locate one, if so where?
b. is it possible to restore something like that (once we know what it truly looked like?)
c. when we finally do a replacement for it should we go with gas or wood, and if wood would a wood burning insert be appropriate?
d. what is the indoor air quality difference between the above mentioned options, ie for an asthmatic?

 

[begreen]

I've seen a few angled fireplaces including one in a house we almost bought before purchasing our current home. No pictures though. The only way you are going to know some of the answers to these questions is opening up the wall and seeing what damage was done to the original and then have a mason determine if it can be repaired. Odd are the flue is unusable at that age without a full, insulated liner.

As for wood or gas due to the asthma, I would think gas would be better but it would be better to ask folks that have asthma what they have experienced.

 

[Shari]

Your home may have originally had two fireplaces - back to back with one of then 'angled' - which would explain the triangular area. Even though this area was remodeled at some time, can you tell if you have multiple flues? Sometimes, but not always, the two fireplaces would have been run adjacent to one another. In other cases sometimes they had two fireplaces hooked up to one flue so the lack of a second flue is not definitive answer. By the way, more than likely at least one of these would probably have been a coal burning device with a very small opening compared to today's fireplaces.

As far as the asthma question: I have had asthma since a child. About 2 yrs. ago we started a very serious attempt to supplement our home heating bills by burning more often in our fireplace. After suffering many, many cases of asthma related illnesses during those two years it was determined I was allergic to the smoke from the fireplace. We installed our Oslo in February of this year and I have not had similar health issues since. Different people have varying degrees of asthma and as they say, your mileage may vary.

Shari

 

[madrone]

My wife has asthma, and the cats were always a bigger issue than the stove. I agree that gas would probably be safest, but an airtight insert would probably be fine. Very little smoke enters the room as long as everything's working correctly, and that's only when re-loading.