Newbie needs advise...

[tkschaef]

I stumbled across this forum after doing many searches and was really pleased to see the level of knowledge and expertise available...

I have a home built in 1958 with a very large fireplace. The previous owners lived here for 39 years. When I purchased the home 2 years ago the fireplace was double sided with a non-functioning "pretend" fireplace on one side (red light bulb behind ceramic logs and all) and a "Buck Stove" insert on the other side. The insert worked fairly well with a thermostatically controlled blower.

We hated the look of both and on a recent Saturday, got a little over ambitious and removed the "pretend" portion. One thing led to another (of course) and soon the insert was out and we now have a see-through fireplace. The openings on either side are 34"H x 25"H with a side to side distance of 34".

Girlfriend wants to retain the see-through look and I want to make sure we don't asphyxiate or burn...anyone have a guidance to help me get started?

 

[badger1968]

What, exactly, do you want to do? What's under the bricks? What is beyond the bricks? How many flues are there? What's in the flue(s)? A damper? A liner? Both?

 

[Todd]

Yeah, need more info, but I'm sure you could size up the openings on both sides and procure glass doors if your just looking for the ambiance of a fireplace. You should also have a certified chimney sweep check out and clean the whole thing.

 

[fossil]

Yeah, it's a toughie. Where you're gonna go with it, of course, depends on where you want it to end up. Do you want to use it to heat your home, or more for ambience? There really isn't any easy way to make a double-sided see-through fireplace into an efficient heater...we've talked about that here a number of times. At least, there's certainly no affordable off-the-shelf solution that would provide that capability. What do you two think you'd like it to become, in terms of function & capability? Rick

 

[tkschaef]

Okay, my better half has abandoned our search for knowledge so I will try to keep it moving...

I'm not particularly worried about heating the house, bad as that sounds. I really would just like to ambiance of a fire from both sides. The hearth on one side is quite small and level with the carpet. The hearth on the other side (Lower living room) is quite larger and elevated 18" from the floor. My thought was to have glass on the upstairs side, that only needs to be removable for cleaning but not operable for tending the fire. The other side would be glass doors. Is this even possible?

Inside the fireplace is one chimney with a stove pipe in the middle. There is currently no damper as that was attached to the insert we removed, so if you lay in the fireplace and look up, you see brick chimney, stove pipe and chimney top. There is evidence that this fireplace was absolutely used for traditional fires in the past.

Of course we need an inspection, and I am not opposed to consulting a fireplace designer/builder. I am in the "trades" so this is not hard to accomplish, but as my better half is the handiest man I have ever known, we would like to do the actual work ourselves as much as possible.

 

[badger1968]

Yes. Knowledge is good. Generally. ;-)

If ambience is all you want, then, by all means have at it. Make sure the flue is clean, try to use dry wood, and make sure the fires you make won't be able to throw sparks on a combustible surface--the glass wall insert on the carpeted side you mention would be helpful in this regard. A damper is somewhat helpful, but not necessary. But, keep in mind, and you probably know this, every ambience fire you build will be a massive heat sink that will suck the warmth out of the rest of your house. Best of luck, be safe, and continue to ask questions if you have them. The expertise on this site is impressive (excluding myself!).

 

[fossil]

Well, heck, if all you want to do is build a fire in there from time to time, you really don't need to do anything fancy with it at all. IF...(and that's the big if)...the chimney draws well the way it is, then all you need is a couple of nice looking fireplace screens and a grate and some tools and some wood and you're off to the races. Really no need for any glass or fancy stuff at all. As for a damper to be able to close it off when not in use, there are flue-top dampers available that are pretty nifty. They close off the top of the flue and also provide somewhat of a spark arrestor screen. Fasten to the chimney top, a stainless cable runs down the flue into the firebox, and a bracket is fastened there to hold the operating handle. Wanna build a fire, you release the handle and the damper springs open atop the chimney. After everything's cooled back down and you want to close it off, pull the handle down and latch it. Of course, you understand that operating this thing this way will do next to nothing to heat your home...in fact, the net effect would probably be negative. Rick