Building a fireplace (maybe). Ideas

[shady1]

Hello everyone, we bought a place a year ago, have thought about adding a fireplace, it is a log home, however quite sticker shocked by the first estimate, they wanted in excess of $20k(not alot of destruction/construction other than a chase would be needed) Was wondering if anyone has added one to a home and what kind of expense's they encountered, also which fireplace would you all suggest, have looked at a couple. Thanks in advance.

 

[pen]

With the inefficiencies of a fireplace and the expense, and considering the great view of a fire that so many stoves on the market exhibit, and how much cheaper they can be installed, and how much more efficient they are, I'd be looking at a free standing stove with a very nice hearth and wall shield to give you good aesthetics, and performance at a reasonable cost.

pen

 

[flusher17]

I live in a log home, too. I built what looks like a fireplace and then put a Jotul Oslo in front of it on the hearth. So, I get the efficiency of a stove with the nice looks of a stone rustic fireplace. Best of both worlds and we love it.

 

[jeff_t]

Or, Scotty is supposed to be in Michigan this summer...
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/building-the-hearth-for-my-napoleon-nz3000-what-a-quest.74273/

Really, though, You can get very efficient stove-type fireplaces that can be built to look the the real, inefficient thing.

 

[begreen]

You have a couple less expensive choices. The actual cost will depend on the size of the heater required and the length of the chimney.We need more info for that.

Option one is to put in a good quality EPA, zero clearance fireplace. You can finish the facade off in stone, tile, brick etc. Figure about $10-12K. The other option is a big freestanding stove with a great fire view. This will probably be more efficient at heating, more flexible in design and less expensive. You can trick out the hearth for a very nice setting appropriate for a log cabin. Figure rough costs between $6 to 8K depending on how big and fancy a stove you get and how crazy you go on the hearth. With some careful shopping and simper stove requirements this could be as low as $5K for new or less than $3K used.