I’m thinking of installing a fireplace in the living room of my small (one story) Northern California house. I want to burn wood, not gas or pellets, and i’m not interested in either a stove or an enclosed insert – I want a real masonry fireplace, and I’m willing to build it myself. The problem is, I don’t want to build a chimney. I was hoping to use a metal/ceramic flue, or whatever would work to install relatively easily. There is a crawlspace beneath the floor, and I can beef up the framing to take the weight of the fireplace and hearth (probably poured concrete), but I’d like to know details concerning fireproofing, design plans, etc. My search efforts to find how-to info have filed to provide me with anything encouraging on this matter. Has anyone out there done such a project? can you give me any advice or helpful information? The fireplace would be smallish, in a corner by an exterior wall, and it would be used for heating as well as aesthetics.
Saul
Replies
Youy've got a lot of studying to do judging by the design ideas you present so far. A fireplace, especially a smallish one does not provide heat. The corner location makes it even harder to do so. A small corner fireplace will be a net drain on your heating system, good for aesthetics only.
You need a foundation for the masonry mass, not just some beefed up framing.
BTW, you can't put a hearth directly on combustible farming, even with a poured concrete hearth.
BTW#2 you don't want a concrete hearth either. The heat will have it decimated in a short time. I wager no more than thirty hot fires before the concrete is cracking and falling out and the framing under is charred - that's if you haven't already burned yourself out of house an home by then.
You don't want a real chimney. How do you feel about smoke in the house? Meteal chimneys are designed for adaptation to special seats in the metal firebox they are sold for. Mix and match works for ladies clothing stores but not for fireplace/chimnney combinations.
Size of openning, angles of back, thrust of throat, and size and height of the chimney should all be designed together.
oh yeah...
YOU DO KNOW WHAT FIREBRICK IS don't you?
The only way out of your delema is to hire a good mason to work with you or to install a "zero clearance" prefab metal unit according to the manufacturers instructions. Be sure it is not fit too tight into the corner and that you find out ahead of time what your local regs are on this. Most places will require a min of 12" free of combustables to the sides of the opening. In a corner, where radiant may hit the walls, some jurisdictions up the ante' to 18" or more.
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