When we were looking at houses, one of our must-haves were at least one working fireplace.  When my husband and I first met, I had an apartment with a working fireplace and it was so cozy and romantic.  But behind the romance there is a lot you have to know to get a working fireplace

Parlor floor mantle

First, most realtors will tell you that if there is a fireplace mantle in the house that “you can get it going” with a little restoration but what they don’t tell you is the cost.   At one point in time our house had six working fireplaces.  We know this because there are six separate chimney flues.  Even though you see only two chimneys on the roof, each of those chimneys house three separate flues.

In the third floor rental unit the mantles were removed and the hearths were dry walled over.  On the garden floor there is one marble mantle (still painted over) and one brick hearth (both closed up).

On the parlor floor there are two marble mantles with metal summer doors (see above).  After our offer on the house was accepted, we looked at the house more closely during the inspection.  In one of the fireplaces, part of the summer door was removable and we saw that there was no bottom.  We asked some contractors and architects for possible explanations and they thought that the house had never had wood burning fireplaces and that there was coal burning heat in the basement and that these were essentially decorative openings to let the heat in.  Turns out they were wrong.  Yes, these were actually once wood burning fireplaces.  We finally got the summer door off of the other mantle and there was a brick bottom on it that clearly had been used to burn wood. This opening (or firebox) was also much deeper than the other one and it is an unsolved mystery why they are different.

The Anatomy of a Fireplace

A fireplace and chimney is made up of several parts including the mantel, the hearth, the firebox and the smoke chamber.  Over the years these components can get damaged, wear out or no longer fall within modern code requirements.

The Cost

When we first priced fireplace restoration, we researched the average cost in our area for this type of work.  In New York City, the prices varied from five to seven thousand dollars per fireplace.  That does not necessarily include all the extras.  Do the chimneys need refurbishing?  Do you need a new boiler flue liner?    If the house has not been updated in a while, you probably will.  That will run you about an extra three thousand.  Do they need to rebuild or enlarge the hearth to make sure it is up to code?  –an extra thousand there.  If the hearth opening is too narrow, they may need to remove the mantle so it can be enlarged.  That will cost you, in addition to the fact that with a marble mantle it may CRACK when removed.  There is nothing they can do to prevent it and the cost of replacement is on you.  Finally, there is the smoke test which must be performed by a third party company, and as with all construction related inspections, it is not cheap.

VERY VERY IMPORTANT

A certain amount of fireplace restoration can be done without a permit from the DOB.  However, if you are in the process of doing a renovation then it must be done under the general construction permit.  This means that it must go under your contractor’s insurance and therefore your contractor will “manage it” i.e. tack on a 20% fee.

And then there is the mess.  When we first contemplated our renovations we though we would put off the fireplaces because they weren’t an absolute necessity and we knew they were expensive. Afterwards, we thought we should get some estimates to verify how much it would cost.  We acquired three estimates and they were roughly the same price.  In addition to cost, we learned the physical requirements of the project.

Ouch – glad we did not paint up here.

When chimney liners are replaced with modern flexible steel liners they need to open the walls above the mantle as well as on any floors above.  While they do put plastic around their work, mess is inevitable.  We realized how crazy it would be to finish the other renovations and then reopen walls after they had recently been re-plastered and painted not to mention the damage that may be done to the floors as well.

Best Old-house Advice You Will Ever Get

Do the fireplace restoration before you start anything!  Once you have filed with the DOB for construction permits, then you must put the fireplace restoration under that permit.  Our house sat there for over a month while we waited for a Letter of No Objection that never came and then waited another month for the preparation of filing drawings and paperwork.  We might have saved ourselves filing fees and mark-up fees, not to mention the fact that something on the house would have been progressing, by starting right after closing.  By not restoring the fireplaces first thing, it also stalled the work in the rental unit. We didn’t want our new floors to be scratched up by the sand in the mortar which gets all over the floor and is ground in by the construction workers’ boots as they walk around.

Cost and mess aside, we were very happy we decided to refurbish the fireplaces.  They look great and will increase the value of the home in the end (we hope).  We look forward to future delightful snowy nights with no place to go.

To keep our metal summer doors looking fresh, we periodically used a black metal polish.  We used a brand called Meeco’s Stove Polish.

Progression

Fireplace as we found it covered with several years of paint

They framed to mantle to prevent damage.

This is the chimney in the rental unit that had to be opened up.

Installing the new firebox.

Frame and summer door stripped down to original metal.

The wall will be re-plastered later by our contractor.