Hello. We bought our house just over a year ago and have had weekly fires in it during the cold months (Iowa). Today I did a thorough cleaning of the firebox and discovered that there was a gap at the back where the floor meets the back wall. In the spot where the gap is at, it appears that the back wall is dented back a bit (thus creating the gap).
My primary concern with this gap, of course, is safety of continued use of the unit. What is below that gap? From what I can tell the whole firebox area is contained within a larger metal type of box, but I'm not really sure. The reason I think it's contained in a larger box is that when I pop the front of the area where the blower is underneath, it appears that the top of that section is metal (and thus under the section with the gap mentioned above).
Is this a common issue? Is there a suitable DIY fix, if it is, in fact, an issue?
My primary concern with this gap, of course, is safety of continued use of the unit. What is below that gap? From what I can tell the whole firebox area is contained within a larger metal type of box, but I'm not really sure. The reason I think it's contained in a larger box is that when I pop the front of the area where the blower is underneath, it appears that the top of that section is metal (and thus under the section with the gap mentioned above).
Is this a common issue? Is there a suitable DIY fix, if it is, in fact, an issue?
![[Hearth.com] Question regarding gap in back of fireplace](/talk/data/attachments/219/219148-2fe02aa31fbf4dcae73d01e8780a7f33.jpg?hash=NAaadfWnf-)
![[Hearth.com] Question regarding gap in back of fireplace](/talk/data/attachments/219/219149-36ce0441f1696be0d4a7f49ef88cb0cc.jpg?hash=Kj_QgqcC3_)
![[Hearth.com] Question regarding gap in back of fireplace](/talk/data/attachments/219/219150-27d73d4d5022f1b9b2159d70431229da.jpg?hash=JY0g9HI0d3)
![[Hearth.com] Question regarding gap in back of fireplace](/talk/data/attachments/219/219151-2465004d56c2f2a45bfc0e3ec2b05dbd.jpg?hash=NXZNys66kR)
