Convert gas log to wood?

[Ashful]

Outdoor patio fireplace, presently LP gas log. Gas co is not happy with method by which 1990's installer made the connection from the plastic line running under the patio to the corrugated stainless which penetrates the floor of the fireplace. They want to pull the entire run and re-plumb, although three installer/inspectors cannot agree on best method to achieve this, as conduit running under patio terminates into a blind cavity below flagstone floor of patio. Prior installer made transition in this blind cavity, before pointing the last slab of natural flagstone over it, and there is no easy or practical means of cutting exterior access into this cavity.

In addition to this, the gas log itself is shot. The main rail and pan are stainless, and mostly fine, but all of the fittings, valve, etc. are all badly corroded. It's only 12 years old, and the one prior to that also lasted less than 15 years, according to prior owner.

I'm leaning toward telling them to just pull all the gas out, and running wood in this fireplace. Before I do that, I figured I'd get some opinions, here. We only use this a few times per year.

 

[DAKSY]

What is the manufacturer/ model of the fireplace? Is it rated for solid fuel burning?
If it isn’t rated for wood, what about “punching” a small hole thru the back of the firebox & using a 20lb LP tank to fuel a new gas log set? Shut off & disconnect the old line. If you only use it a few times…

 

[armanidog]

In order to convert to wood I would pull all the piping, fill any cavities with concrete, and repoint the loose stones. I would extend the chimney in some way to keep smoke from enveloping the sitting area on some nights.

 

[Ashful]

Thanks for the replies, guys. I guess I left out some of those details:

Fireplace is custom built, not prefab. Present gas log is Peterson Real Fyre, and I just pulled the receipts from prior owner to realize it's actually 14 years old.

The regulators for my buried LP tank (500 gal) are just 30 feet away, and connected to this fireplace via 3" conduit running under my patio.
I suspect it's a pretty easy pull for a new continuous corrugated line, if I'm going to stay on gas. The most recent potential installer agreed that, because it's outdoor and the shutoff at the regulator is straight across the patio, they're technically "in the same room". Thus, I would not need a second shutoff at the fireplace, and we could therefore just pull one continuous piece of corrugated (trac pipe?) from regulator set straight up to the gas log, eliminating the present issue of the plastic to stainless that's buried under the flagstone.

I was thinking that, because even that will likely cost me $1000 (new gas log + new line pull), and because I only use it a few times per year, it might be easier to just pull the old line out, stuff the cavity with rock wool, cap the far end of the conduit to protect it for potential later use, point the stone back into place, and and set a log cradle in there. Yes, chimney height is a concern, but I had two other outdoor fireplaces with similar chimney height to this growing up, and I don't recall any draft issues on the one we used quite regularly.