ironspider
Member
Greetings all, my wife and I have moved on to our next remodel project (after doing a complete remodel of our basement to finish it and install a bar and wall mounted TV and all that jazz) and we've decided to update our living room wall that the old fireplace is on. I'll include a bunch of pictures below but the house is a ranch built in the early 60s and has this traditional wood burning fireplace and chimney. We want to modernize the style and redo this entire wall by converting the fireplace to a gas fireplace and doing some built-ins on each side of it (so essentially three "columns". We play to use Norstone or some other drystack/brick veneer in the middle "column".
After doing some research and sending some emails to various chimney/fireplace peoples, I decided that the best way to go was with a fireplace insert and co-linear venting. I have purchased the co-linear vent system so I'm good up the chimney in the venting department. The wife, however, was not to psyched when we realized that about every fireplace insert uses a pretty large surround. For the more modern looks it seems like most things are "clean face" and I now believe that's the way we'd want to go.
So, my research turned to that and we think we are set on using the Napoleon BGD36CF because it has a modern look (doesn't use the brick-look in the firebox but also uses logs, not crystals [we're not huge fans of the crystals]) but a log set. I know I'll have to get a co-axial to co-linear adapter to connect up to my 3" intake/exhaust lines so I'm prepared for that--but what I not up to speed on is how much of the existing fireplace I can safely remove without the chimney falling down
So, why remove anything right? Well, the issue is that these clean-face fireplace (well I guess *all* non-insert fireplaces) are really big! What I'm worried about is that the dimensions of the Napoleon are so big that we're going to have to frame it way out from the existing fireplace and lose some of the real estate we were hoping to gain (from the removal of the hearth). If I can remove more of the current fireplace (especially the bricks on the bottom/underneath the firebox) I think I could safely install the new fireplace back quite a bit.
So, on to the pictures! I have removed all 460 bricks from this sucker (by hand with a cold chisel, I don't know what I was thinking. I could have probably rented a tool to do it in an hour with minimal exertion) and this is what I'm left with. I'm wondering if I can knock out and remove the angled bricks that made of the previous firebox sides (white bricks) and first row bottom bricks (white bricks)? What are the piled bricks there for? Is that to keep the heat contained in the firebox and not needed now that I'll be moving to a zero-clearance? Also, that metal bar that is above the firebox--is that still necessary? If I chip out that mortar there (again so that the new fireplace can be further "back" from the living room) will the chimney collapse? Wood framing I understand and the header in this photo is easy to understand--but how does a chimney work? I mean is that metal bar (only about 3-4" deep) acting as the "header" for the chimney/fireplace opening?
I guess I'm just looking for tips and advice at this point. I feel like I've demo-ed everything I'm comfortable demo-ing until I get more feedback. Up to this point there have been moments where I was pretty confident I could remove bricks and it all turned out to be correct--but I want to understand this old fireplace/chimney construction before I attempt to remove anything else.
Thanks in advance for any help/ideas/tips you can give me.
After doing some research and sending some emails to various chimney/fireplace peoples, I decided that the best way to go was with a fireplace insert and co-linear venting. I have purchased the co-linear vent system so I'm good up the chimney in the venting department. The wife, however, was not to psyched when we realized that about every fireplace insert uses a pretty large surround. For the more modern looks it seems like most things are "clean face" and I now believe that's the way we'd want to go.
So, my research turned to that and we think we are set on using the Napoleon BGD36CF because it has a modern look (doesn't use the brick-look in the firebox but also uses logs, not crystals [we're not huge fans of the crystals]) but a log set. I know I'll have to get a co-axial to co-linear adapter to connect up to my 3" intake/exhaust lines so I'm prepared for that--but what I not up to speed on is how much of the existing fireplace I can safely remove without the chimney falling down
So, why remove anything right? Well, the issue is that these clean-face fireplace (well I guess *all* non-insert fireplaces) are really big! What I'm worried about is that the dimensions of the Napoleon are so big that we're going to have to frame it way out from the existing fireplace and lose some of the real estate we were hoping to gain (from the removal of the hearth). If I can remove more of the current fireplace (especially the bricks on the bottom/underneath the firebox) I think I could safely install the new fireplace back quite a bit.
So, on to the pictures! I have removed all 460 bricks from this sucker (by hand with a cold chisel, I don't know what I was thinking. I could have probably rented a tool to do it in an hour with minimal exertion) and this is what I'm left with. I'm wondering if I can knock out and remove the angled bricks that made of the previous firebox sides (white bricks) and first row bottom bricks (white bricks)? What are the piled bricks there for? Is that to keep the heat contained in the firebox and not needed now that I'll be moving to a zero-clearance? Also, that metal bar that is above the firebox--is that still necessary? If I chip out that mortar there (again so that the new fireplace can be further "back" from the living room) will the chimney collapse? Wood framing I understand and the header in this photo is easy to understand--but how does a chimney work? I mean is that metal bar (only about 3-4" deep) acting as the "header" for the chimney/fireplace opening?
I guess I'm just looking for tips and advice at this point. I feel like I've demo-ed everything I'm comfortable demo-ing until I get more feedback. Up to this point there have been moments where I was pretty confident I could remove bricks and it all turned out to be correct--but I want to understand this old fireplace/chimney construction before I attempt to remove anything else.
Thanks in advance for any help/ideas/tips you can give me.