How big of a job is this? Demoing existing prefab, relocating and installing new prefab

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jm97279

New Member
Sep 21, 2022
1
Durham, NC
I'm a relatively new homeowner. I've been increasingly irritated by the position of my (wood-burning) pre-fab fireplace. It's located in the very middle of my living room with drywall going straight up the height of the cathedral ceiling. This blocks out the ONLY source of natural light in the entire living room and bifurcates the room into two too-small rooms. I recently befriended a woman down the road who has the exact same house, except that hers has a fireplace in the back corner (photo attached). I'd like to look into demo-ing my existing fireplace and adding a brand new prefab fireplace to the back corner of my living room in the exact same way. I don't know where to start -- I know that I want it to be wood burning. I do not care about masonry vs. prefab, and I don't particularly care about energy efficiency or heat generation. It's mostly for looks and personal enjoyment during the winter months.

The drywall flares from the fireplace do not have any water/pipes, but there is some electrical work running across and down to the outlets. I'm OK losing those.

Could folks point me in some general directions for further research? Does this seem like a <$10,000 job or something well above that?

house fireplace.jpg target wall.jpg goal.PNG
 
First, determine whether the fireplace wall is also structural. If so, with it removed, something must support that area. Installing a new ZC fireplace in the new location is somewhat straight-forward with good planning. An EPA fireplace is advised. The budget at $10K is tight given how much prices have gone up this year.