N80
Super Member
I have a log cabin where I spend most of my weekends. I built it myself from a kit with the help of friends. It is about 20 years old and when we built it we could not afford to put in a fireplace. It has had central heat and air for about 12 years. Now we have the money to put in a fireplace.
The purpose of this fireplace has more to do with enjoying a fire than as a primary heat source.
One contractor was a no go and we're having to go to court to get our money back. I posted that saga in another thread.
The contractor we are talking to now is legit but wants $30,000 to put in a full masonry fireplace. Inflation I suppose.
We are able to afford that but it just seems extremely high to me and I am inclined not to do it.
Some folks in the other thread suggested an insert as did the contractor. He can do that without hiring a specialized mason which is a big part of the cost I'm assuming. That and the fact that we're in the middle of nowhere and it is hard to get carpenters and masons to drive out to us.
Anyway, in the past I have lived in a couple of homes and apartments with fireplace inserts. To be clear, I'm not talking about a wood stove insert. I'm talking about a pre-fab metal firebox. Anyway, I did not like the ones we had. They were cheap. The firebrick lining looked fake and did not fit properly. They pinged and rattled when they heated up and cooled down. I am assuming these were low end units but I know nothing about them.
Our desire for a full masonry fireplace is based on those experiences combined with out positive experiences with traditional masonry fireplaces. My current home, which is over 90 years old, has four. They all draw great and put out a ton of heat.
So I'm interested in folks experience with fireplace inserts, good, bad and otherwise and would appreciate some guidance here. We have not gotten an estimate from the contractor on one but he implied that it would be much less expensive.
The purpose of this fireplace has more to do with enjoying a fire than as a primary heat source.
One contractor was a no go and we're having to go to court to get our money back. I posted that saga in another thread.
The contractor we are talking to now is legit but wants $30,000 to put in a full masonry fireplace. Inflation I suppose.
We are able to afford that but it just seems extremely high to me and I am inclined not to do it.
Some folks in the other thread suggested an insert as did the contractor. He can do that without hiring a specialized mason which is a big part of the cost I'm assuming. That and the fact that we're in the middle of nowhere and it is hard to get carpenters and masons to drive out to us.
Anyway, in the past I have lived in a couple of homes and apartments with fireplace inserts. To be clear, I'm not talking about a wood stove insert. I'm talking about a pre-fab metal firebox. Anyway, I did not like the ones we had. They were cheap. The firebrick lining looked fake and did not fit properly. They pinged and rattled when they heated up and cooled down. I am assuming these were low end units but I know nothing about them.
Our desire for a full masonry fireplace is based on those experiences combined with out positive experiences with traditional masonry fireplaces. My current home, which is over 90 years old, has four. They all draw great and put out a ton of heat.
So I'm interested in folks experience with fireplace inserts, good, bad and otherwise and would appreciate some guidance here. We have not gotten an estimate from the contractor on one but he implied that it would be much less expensive.