Advice on converting a Decorative Fireplace into a Wood Burning Fireplace

[reholmberg]

Hello! I am looking for some advice to help me make a decision on how to get a wood burning stove installed into our house.

We had a free-standing stove in our previous house and we absolutely loved it. Our new house has a decorative brick fireplace with ventless gas logs and no chimney.

We have talked to a licensed contractor about getting a chimney installed but are considering how to do the fireplace. It seems like we have two options: 1. Rip out the fireplace completely except for the brick platform and install a freestanding wood burning stove. The quote for this is pretty pricey and will mean that it might be a while before we can save up enough to afford it. 2. Keep the fireplace and put in a wood burning insert. This option I would like some opinions on:

I can remove the gas insert and cap off the gas line under the house. I imagine that the brick work does not continue behind the insert to form a proper firebox. If so, I was thinking I could install concrete board to box out the space behind the insert and then install a wood-burning insert and have it connected to the chimney. Would boxing out the space with concrete board be good enough or would it have to be built out with brick so that a wood burning insert could safely be installed?

I have attached some photos of the fireplace. There is a large cutout above the fireplace that was previously used as TV cabinet, we currently cover the hole with a big mirror as you can see in the picture. We would likely keep this as is and send the pipe up through the hole and out the roof. The chimney and stove would be installed by a contractor. So my main question is about framing out the space behind the insert. Does it have to be bricked out or can it be framed out with a non-flammable material like concrete board and will that be good and safe for an insert?

Thank you for your time and feedback!

 

[begreen]

A wood burning insert definitely can not be installed in the existing fireplace. Not a chance. Or, by insert, do you mean replace the existing unit with a wood burning, zero-clearance (ZC) fireplace? If so, it means a tear out. A new, metal chimney would be installed per the ZC fireplace requirements.

Is here another location in the house where a freestanding stove could work out?

 

[reholmberg]

A wood burning insert definitely can not be installed in the existing fireplace. Not a chance. Is here another location in the house where a freestanding stove could work out?

I appreciate your quick response. Could you elaborate a little? I am assuming that the concrete board would not be good enough? would it work if after the gas insert was removed the fireplace was built out properly with a brick firebox?

If not it sounds like we will need to tear out the fireplace and open that corner up completely in order for a free-standing stove to be installed. There really isn't another place in the living room that would make sense for a stove. Thank you for the feedback.

 

[begreen]

With a tearout, you'll have a clean slate. Then a freestanding stove or a replacement, woodburning, zero-clearance fireplace could be installed. The latter would likely be more expensive.

 

[stoveliker]

To be clear, an insert can generally only be installed in a fully functional masonry fireplace.
Building that is far more costly than anything else you can do (zero clearance or freestanding)

 

[30WCF]

I’d set an ember protection only stove in-front of the pretty brick mantle and go straight up through the roof.

 

[Doc3]

I don’t know if this will help but the fireplace is purely aesthetic and non-functional. The wood stove clearance and hearth are beyond specs. The stove is vented through the top of the “firebox” correctly and out the roof. We tore out a zero clearance there and built the fake fireplace. Hope it helps (gives me a chance to show it off too lol)!