Building out depth of fireplace

[he8833]

Joined the boards tonight, have been lurking however for the last 2 weeks and really could use some input/help. I am fairly detailed oriented, but haven't really seen anything definitive in terms of direction on this. The sum of my question is whether I can build out the depth of my fireplace by apprx 15". The main driver is we want to put base cabinets on each side of the fireplace which are apprx 12"deep. (see attached picture which shows the spirit of what we are thinking)

At present, the fire place brick sits proud of the basement foundation by apprx 4" (2nd picture) After I place the1.50" foam board insulation against the wall and my .50" sheet rock. The fireplace brick sits 2" proud, then of course after we add the 12" deep cabinets the cabinets would then sit 10" proud of the fireplace brick. This is what I am hopeful to change and would like to extend the depth of the fireplace apprx 15" from where it sits today. I would plan on using steel studs and Durock to accomplish this.


Measurements of current fireplace:
Opening 26.25 H
Width 33.50 W
Edge of opening to edge of fire place brick 12" (noted in pic below)
Depth measured at back of fireplace to the opening (taken from floor) 22"

As of now we are leaning towards the Supreme I-30 gas insert.
http://downloads.hearthnhome.com/installManuals/2206_901.pdf

By increasing the depth of the current fireplace by 15" as noted above, we would be increasing the depth from 22" to 37" (measuring from the back of fireplace at ground level). Will an insert fit into a opening this deep? Are their other considerations that I am not accounting for. Basically we would simply add 15" in depth to picture to the 3rd picture.

 

[Jan Pijpelink]

Welcome. You are on the wrong forum. This is the wood burning forum. Gas has a dedicated forum. @begreen.

 

[Jan Pijpelink]

Sorry about that I am 0/1! Is something the mod's could move over? But before they do, based on what I described doing, could I build out the depth as described above and still use it as functioning wood burning fireplace, or would the proposed depth make this not possible? Or would that require using using cinder blocks vs metal studs and durock when building out.

One of the moderators will move your post.

 

[Jan Pijpelink]

Done!

 

[he8833]

@begreen could you take a stab at my situation or advise if I should connect with somoene on the boards that may have some insight>

 

[begreen]

I've never done an gas insert installation so this is just a stab and nothing more. The proposed installation sounds possible with some caveats. First, that the build out be entirely non-combustible within xx (36" ??) of the fireplace opening and second, that the fireplace insert is not so far forward that connecting the flue is compromised or impossible. @DAKSY is the gas expert here. Not sure if he has run across a situation like this before. He may have better insight.

One concern I have is the possibility of the following owner of the house wanting to out the gas insert and wanted to burn wood again. Will electricity be brought into the fireplace opening for the gas insert? That is another complication if returning it to a wood burner. I'd run the plans by the local inspector first.

 

[he8833]

thx @begreen You kind of zeroed in on the decision I am faced with. Option A would be to keep it as a natural wood burning fireplace, but extend it out as I described above. Option B would be converting it to a gas insert.

Assuming I go with option A. In that case it sounds like you are advocating that the framing would need to consist of metal studs and durock as I proposed. I wasn't entirely sure what you meant when you said " build out be entirely non-combustible within xx (36" ??) of the fireplace opening"

I suppose I would need to use brick on the interior of the framing so that the extended depth is lined with brick like the circled portion in red. So basically I would inset my framing and durock by the thickness of whatever brick I use so when I mortar it to the durock I maintain the size of original opening. Just imagine the brick circled in red extends out another 15" and the interior of it would be faced with brick. The surround could be either faced with stone or tile?

Iam not entirely sure what you meant when you said " build out be entirely non-combustible within xx (36" ??) of the fireplace opening" but perhaps you were alluding to what I described above?

@bholler in talking with begreen he said you might have some insight on keeping it as a natural wood bearning fireplace

 

[begreen]

I don't know how far from the fireplace opening the construction would need to be entirely non-combustible. The requirement may be different for open fire wood vs gas insert. If the entire wall buildout is non-combustible then I would assume it's not an issue. Like I said, it's just a stab.