Decorating & Renovating
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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Question: Fireplace Renovation
My husband and I are currently on the market to buy a home and are realizing the one we may end up buying will need some major renovations. One of the things is the fact that it is a 2 story without a fireplace. Yes, here in Texas they like to think that AWD vehicles as well as fireplaces are not necessary. Anyway, we do think it is necessary to have a fireplace. Has anyone done home renovations that involve adding a fireplace? Is there an average cost? Does anyone have any knowledge of ventless fireplaces? Do they produce heat? Thoughts/comments/suggestions/etc are welcome here!
Re: Question: Fireplace Renovation
A fireplace will require a hearth, burn box, and an extensive chimney, which would probably be pretty costly due to the support system needed to reinforce the wall and the masonry work.
However, you can opt to do a Franklin Stove instead. It burns wood and is actually more efficient in heating a home/room (it sucks out less heat than a regular fireplace does). I have seen them come in a variety of styles and price ranges.
Also, they just take a pipe that exits the house at or near the roof pushing the smoke away from the home.
I bet this would do the trick, add charm, and save you a bunch of money.
I think some of the modern fireplaces that use ethanol or fuels gels don't require much infrastructure for venting. Also consider gas.
I thought it was amusing that you assume fireplaces are necessary. I'd say have the houses in my area don't have fireplaces (Massachusetts).
We have two propane vent-free fireplaces and yes, they produce heat -- lots of it. However, they also produce a certain smell. I'm not sure exactly how to describe it. Not like gas or exhaust, more like ozone, maybe. Not repulsive, but definitely there.
The cats don't mind. They are delighted when we turn on the fireplaces!
I totally get what you say about AWD or 4WD, now that we have moved from Austin to DFW and get more snow/icy days, I was looking for a new car, and because of type of job I have, I actually have to go to work when it snows or icy, and had a hard time finding an AWD available in the lot.
I don't think a fireplace is must however, most houses we looked at, we preferred if it did not have a fireplace, because they stick them as the focal point of the family room, with no room for a tv, or tv on the side, which made the tv watching and furniture arrangement kind of difficult.
I also was going to suggest the type of fireplaces that burn ethanol.
They have fireplace options that don't need a chimney or anything like that. Go to a search engine like Google and type "ventless fireplaces"
http://www.darlingdwellings.com