clearance questions

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krex1010

Minister of Fire
Jan 3, 2010
661
southeast pa
hey everyone, this forum is awesome, i am learning so much reading everyones posts, and i hope some of you can help me with a few issues.

i have a brick masonary fireplace on an exterior wall, the dimesions are 32"wide, 26" high and 19" deep, it has a wood surround that starts at 32 inches off the ground, which doesnt work for most inserts. the fireplace only has one course of bricks around the sides and the top, and the surround butts right up against the brick. i was thinking of removing the whole surround and putting a new mantle up at a height that will work for whatever insert i finally decide to go with, but in the area below the mantle and above the fireplace i'm not sure what to do, can i put drywall there? or do i have to have somekind of brick or stone veneer? also should i worry about the framing that is in this wall over the chimmney?

also i am hearing differing opinions on whether i should insulate the liner on whatever insert i choose, most of the salesmen say the generally dont insulate the liners, some say it depends on the situation, and they all say they use a wrap insulation when they do insulate. my chimmney guy says he always recommends insulating and he uses a poured vermiculite(i think) insulation mix that dries hard like cement. any thoughts on any of this?
 
For your first question, I think you ought to go to the manufacturer's website and download the manual for any insert you are considering and see what they have to say about clearances/materials.

For the second, nearly everyone on this site seems to recommend insulating the liner for an exterior chimney (mostly in favor of insulating any chimney but some latitude for interior chimneys.....)
 
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