The attached photo is the backside of our fireplace after a stud got hot enough to begin smoldering. The fire dept. cut into the wall and and removed the stud up to the top of the opening in the drywall. We have removed the electrical outlet, which is now dead. The studs are not load bearing and appear to be in place strictly as nailers for drywall and the electrical boxes.
We have owned the 1980’s era home for three years and have burned the fireplace all three winters for brief periods, usually 4-5 hours at a time. However, on this particular day, we burned the fireplace for around 12 hours. The wall pictured is our bedroom wall, and it obviously gets very hot when the firebox heats up. I’m considering leaving the stud out and replacing the drywall with a type x or c and calling it good. We’ll probably have the firebox mortar checked and replaced if needed.
1. Does anyone have other repair suggestions?
2. What can we expect in terms of cost to repoint the firebox?
Replies
The mortar seems very poorly done, and letting studs into the brickwork is bizarre to me. I would think the repair costs would be fairly low to get the firebox repaired to acceptable standards, but the wall should be spaced away from the brickwork, not flat on top of it.
If possible I would jog the wall out behind the fireplace allowing acceptable spacing of the studs from the brick. I would say a separation of about an inch from the studs to firebox would be acceptable, but I would see what the code books say.
I wouldn't use it until the chimney was checked too because that is substandard work and I bet it continues right on to the top of the chimney.
Is there a foundation under the fireplace?
It isn't the kind of question I'd normally ask. But, whoever built that wasn't working with a decent depth of knowledge and skill, so there are a lot of questions that need asked.
First, is there any foundation under this thing?
Second, is the header on the wall you are thinking of leaving the stud out of supported by the masonry?
Third, would you be willing to live with a gas or propane insert?
Installing a gas fired insert might be the best option, as it might be possible to install one into the current firebox and still have teh required clearances so that you won't have to do major rework.
Good question regarding the foundation. Answer is, I don't know. This fireplace is bricked all the way through the roof, including the chimney, so there's a lot of weight here. I havent' pulled up any carpeting, but there are no apparent signs of settling.
The wall is built within the vertical masonry voids at the three studs shown in the photo, but I don't think the wall is tied to masonry at any point (I could be wrong, though). Looking from the attic, the wall supports nothing above it.
We're selling the house, or at least putting it back on the market (we tried FSBO back in November/December for awhile) , when we get this repaired, so I really have no desire to do anything but make the fireplace safe to burn for the next occupants. An insert is probably a wise idea at this point in the life of the structure, but that's a question for the next owners.
The problem is, it's not clear how safe the thing is. The designs I've seen involve at least three layers of masonry and some fill, and there's essentially no way that the situation you have (framing catching fire) could occur, even if the (rather "unusual") expedient of setting the framing into the masonry was taken. So the implication is that the construction is, at the very least, "unconventional".
My suspicion is that it's not original to the house, but was a post-construction add-on, possibly "owner-built".
The thing is, that now as you're aware of this problem you must by law disclose it to any potential buyer. You can't simply paper it over.
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If you'd like to get the option of wood heat back, I'd suggest a free-standing wood stove. The newish ones have very close tolerances to combustibles, and don't involve the complexities of built-in fireplaces.
There's a cost though. Probably count on about $1K, but that's less than an installed fireplace.
Appreciate the comments
I'll probably just have a mason check out the fireplace. My suspicion is that the mortar used in the original construction of the fireplace is not refractory and has failed. I'll either have the fireplace worked over or purchase an insert. At this point, an insert looks like an attractive option.
My response is maybe time to switch to a more efficient insert - wood or pellets or gas. Traditional fireplaces are horrendously inefficient and suck heat out of the house in use or not.