Hello all...I'm a newbie and would like some help if possible. We are in escrow on a mountain cabin and during the home inspection the inspector found some disturbing issues with the fireplace. He said in a nut shell "Don't use it...tear it down and replace it". He found a stair step crack in the exterior mortar joints that ran about 2-1/2 to 3 feet long up several courses of brick. Those bricks are displaced outward by about 1/2 inch. He also said it looked like the area below the hearth has collapsed some.
So...if we need to have it torn out, I would probably go with some type of zero clearance wood burning fireplace in lieu of rebuilding a masonry fireplace (due to cost). Any suggestion on what to do and I know this would be a guess, but what something like that might cost. The inspector said it could be in the $15,000-20,000 range. I thought that sounded a bit high. Any thoughts?
So...if we need to have it torn out, I would probably go with some type of zero clearance wood burning fireplace in lieu of rebuilding a masonry fireplace (due to cost). Any suggestion on what to do and I know this would be a guess, but what something like that might cost. The inspector said it could be in the $15,000-20,000 range. I thought that sounded a bit high. Any thoughts?
