Bought our home just over a year ago and while it could be worse, this fire place/feature wall is not my favorite. I want to honor the style of this home which is West Coast Modern (though built 1980), but wonder if it’s worth some updates. I’d love to get your thoughts/suggestions! Note: the mirror over the mantel is just placed there and not built in.

Please see picture in comment for close up and mantle. The firebox sits a little proud of where I need it to be. The idea is to put tile board and tile over the brick. Purely decorative, this fireplace will never work as the chimney is cut off in the attic.

I saw a mouse yesterday, coming out from the fireplace and going back in. We have the above fireplace vent and you can see its not too high off the ground and I am thinking this is how they are probably getting in and out. I can set up traps but is there a way to close this out completely?

I also think we have/had a dead mice couple months ago because we saw really high activity of moths for the last 2 months. It has no stopped. I also see the blow flies (big ones) in the last 5 - 6 days. I see about 1 -2 a day.

Well its all done now lol but our concern right now is to prevent the mouse from getting in. Last night was the first time i saw a mouse in my house.

Any ideas? maybe post it at a different sub?

I am having a Chaska 34 installed and the installer is saying that Kozy heat allows for the air intake to only extend halfway up the chimney and not exit it. This is not what the information says from what I’ve found. Does anyone have experience with this? Thank you in advance.

So while trying to fix this fireplace I accidentally broke one of the fake logs and can’t figure the model of the fireplace to get an accurate replacement so is this wood salvageable or nah?

We have a 1940s Cape Cod (1400 sq ft) with a masonry fireplace, opening is 34"W x 29.5"H, current glass doors with viewable area 30"W x 22"H. Been running a Portland Willamette Ultra Fyre log set for years and honestly the flame is nice to look at and we get a fair amount of radiant heat but we're looking to get less draft and more heat than it can give. Here is what I have looked at so far.

Valor G4, shop owner is from the neighborhood. My friends have an older G3 in an identical house/floorplan and the heat tends to emit out and up and not very far past the room. The G4 looks much better but the log pattern is still a little bulky and the flames while pretty good seem to be concentrated in one spot. Viewable area is smaller, 28" x 18". Max btu is lower but the turn down is the lowest.

Kozy Heat Nordik-34i, 30" x 22" viewing area which is basically the same size as our current glass doors, flame looked the best of anything we saw in person, but the safety screen is coarse and once you notice it you can't unsee it. Still it's a strong option because of the flames, logs and large viewable area. I don't suppose that there is an upgraded see-through screen available?

Mendota FV44i Flame-in, Nice flames, large viewing area, 29"x20", clear screen that I didn't think was even there until I touched it, but we thought the birch logs were bulky. Did not get to see other log sets to compare.

Regency Gi33, mesh screen almost disappears and we liked the low profile surround/built in look, but the while the flames were positioned well around the logs they were pretty stationary and not very dynamic. 29"x18" glass, smaller than Kozy and Mendota more like the Valor.

Lopi/FPX 616 , saw it in person but didn't get a good look at the flame to remember it, need to go back, 28" x 20" viewable sits in between the Valor/Regency and the Kozy/Mendota units. The owner said that the units are shipped assembled and installs are easier.

The fireplace opening is boarded by 8" brick on each side and 7" on top. All of the shops except the valor dealer will custom cut the surround to fit our exact opening instead of being limited by stock sizes that cover a lot of the brick. I like that Valor doesn't need any power to run in an outage but we have battery backup that may be able to maintain the draw from the powered units.

Trying to figure out how much weight to put on the power independence (valor), see through mesh screens, viewing area, and how realistic the flame looks. Is there anything that I should go look at or consider before picking from this list? Thanks!

Hi folks,

I'm trying to figure out how to fix the Lennox fireplace in the photo. Can you help me sanity check the plan?

From other advice, it looks like I should probably do the following:

• Remove the glass panel and the metal frame holding it.
• Clean up the chipping paint with a metal brush, but not scrape all of it down to bare metal.
• Spray paint the metal with heat-resistant paint, after covering the glass with tape.
• Wait for it to dry, about an hour.
• Re-install, removing tape.
• Cure: usually, heat to 450 for one hour.

For the curing step, do I just run the fireplace for an hour or two while providing lots of ventilation? Is there more to it? For the paint, what color would you recommend? Am I missing anything else? Should I be worried that the old paint failed?

Thanks!

It is wrong of me to be bothered by the weird layered fireplace logs that appear to have been arranged by an overenthusiastic eight year old?

Anyone replaced the millivolt valve on an old wall furnace? Looking for stories before I commit.

1993 Hunter HFS40-3 direct vent wall furnace, natural gas, 35,000 BTU, standing pilot millivolt. Pilot lights and holds a strong blue flame. Main burner never fires.

Where I got to:

• Replaced the thermopile, new one reads up to 550 mV
• Knob on ON, cleaned and reseated all the spade connectors
• Wall thermostat is calling, display shows Heat On
• Jumpered the thermostat terminals at the valve to bypass it. Nothing

Pointing at a dead operator coil in the valve. There's an OEM sticker on it reading 770826467, and that number shows up in Robertshaw's cross reference table under the 710-511 (factory part 7000MVRB-4-LC). Specs line up on paper: 70k BTU capacity, 250-750 mV, hi-lo adjustable 1.7 to 3.5 inch WC on natural gas, and my plate calls for 3.5.

What I'm hoping to hear from people who've actually done one of these:

• Has anyone swapped a millivolt valve on a wall furnace or fireplace this vintage? How did it go, and what did you end up using?
• Did you go OEM cross reference or a generic millivolt valve? Any fitment surprises with inlet/outlet orientation or the pilot tubing?
• The 710-511 has a Canadian quick dropout safety magnet that's meant to pair with pilot assembly 1819-100. Did anyone have to replace the pilot assembly along with the valve, or did the existing one commission fine?

Mostly trying to figure out whether people generally find this repair worth doing on a 30+ year old unit, or whether everyone who's been down this road wishes they'd put the money toward a replacement furnace.

Thanks

Hello! I was replacing my water heater in the basement and found this weird little metal door. The friendly folks over in r/whatisit helped me solve the mystery. We've never used our fireplace so I didn't notice the little door in the bottom of the fireplace either. The hole is only about 8in square. Do people still use these things these days? Or is it a relic of the past. The house was built in 1977. Do I just use a small shovel to scoop out the ashes? Thank you!

I've been told Darth is top notch

Hi everyone. I'm installing a gas insert in place of my old wood burning fireplace. Going through a local dealer here in Portland the two models I'm looking at are the Heat and Glo Supreme i30 and the Regency LRi4e.

This fireplace is for a rental property I own so I'm trying to keep things fairly simple. Any thoughts about these two models?

Hi,

We’re deciding between a Blaze King Ashford 25 and a Hearthstone Clydesdale insert and would appreciate any feedback before we buy.

We’ll use it for heat and because we enjoy fires in winter. We’re in northern CA (winters average 30s, can hit the 20s) and plan to run it as our primary heat source with the furnace as backup.

My priorities: burn time, cost, large viewing glass
Hers: aesthetic, cast iron look, nothing modern large viewing glass

• Blaze King Ashford 25 (~$7,300 + install): I like the steady burn and the look.
• Hearthstone Clydesdale (~$8,200 + install): Larger viewing glass, simpler maintenance.

Any thoughts on the inserts, companies, quality, or anything worth considering . Thanks!

I ordered a replacement with model and glass dimensions. But there is this tape at the bottom of the broken glass I was thinking needs to be replaced as well. What I’m seeing online is all 1/8th inch thick tape but it seems wrong. Is this just some default tape that comes with the glass or am I missing something?

Hello! I’m ready to buy a wood burning insert and I spoke with the local fireplace store. They sell Lopi inserts. Looking at their Large Wood Insert.

I’m assuming there is a decent markup buying through the store compared to buying off woodland direct or similar (any recommendations?) and I’m assuming I can hire someone qualified to install.

Not looking to be super cheap or anything, but I’m getting the vibe I’ll be financing a 15-20k purchase here. So if I can save half by being my own GC, I don’t mind doing that. I work in construction managing orders and crews already so it’s not unfamiliar territory for me.

But if the margins aren’t that high I don’t mind going through the store and paying some added cost for the experience and expertise.

Just doing research, looking for advice and suggestions from those with more experience.

Thanks!

EDIT: thanks all for the comments. The ones I have received were basically the info I needed to feel I was going in the right direction. Just wanted to double check. I haven’t gotten official pricing yet and may or may not be moving forward. depends on what the bank says too. If they won’t give me some kind of loan it’s a no go.

I have an older UL-listed factory-built wood-burning fireplace. It was designed to allow vented decorative gas logs, but it predates the newer UL testing/labeling specifically addressing vent-free gas logs.

If I buy a modern ANSI Z21.11.2-certified vent-free propane log set whose manufacturer says it can be installed in a UL-127 factory-built fireplace, is there any actual safety reason it couldn’t be installed in an older fireplace like this?

I’m trying to understand whether the issue is an actual incompatibility/safety concern, or simply that the older fireplace was manufactured before vent-free installations were specifically tested/listed this way.

Obviously I’d still follow the log manufacturer’s minimum firebox dimensions and clearances and have the fireplace inspected first.

I’m especially interested in answers from fireplace installers/NFI techs who have dealt with older factory-built fireplaces.

6.5” x 6.5” ID Clay Tile Flue. I want to add a liner. Idk if I’m good to add a 5.5” liner. Or if going with 6” SS Single wall pipe would be my best bet. I don’t know how to go about this without demoing some brick down below. I’d like to avoid that. If anybody has any advice please let me know. It’s 35+’ of flue. I imagine there would be no problem doing a 5.5” liner.

From the woodstove, the pipe goes up 2.5’ and 90° to the hole.
The pipe stops after it enters into the hole of the clay tile.

The clay tile inside is dirty yes, and also straight up and down. No offsets or bends. The clay tiles are not perfectly in line with each other.