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radicchio

Insert not correctly installed

radicchio
9 years ago

I bought my home a few years ago and a feature I love is a gas fireplace, surrounded by a stone wall. This is a feature of the living room, and the fireplace creates a lot of heat and I love it. Unfortunately, when I had the fireplace cleaned recently, the sweep told me that it was not installed correctly, as it is an insert, and inserted into a wood framed cavity rather than an existing brick or metal fireplace. He said it is dangerous and I need to replace it with an actual wood fireplace. This will be expensive and entail buying the new fireplace and having a mason fix the stone. I've had two second opinions, on fireplace inspector agreed that it is dangerous and needs to be fixed, one said it will likely be fine. I would love feedback on whether the repair is really needed, and if so, should I buy a new gas fireplace, or try to get a metal fireplace into which I can use the existing insert. Thank you!

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