Sandy · Salt Lake County
Installing a Fireplace That Earns Its Place in a Sandy Home
Plenty of Sandy living rooms were built around a wide open masonry firebox. It looks the part. What it mostly does is send warm household air up the chimney, which is a poor arrangement at bench elevation.
The problem with the fireplace you already have
An open firebox draws roughly ten times more air than the fire needs and dumps almost all of it outside. On a cold Sandy night the room in front of it is pleasant and every other room in the house gets slightly colder, because the furnace is now replacing air the fireplace threw away. Owners often describe the thermostat climbing while the far end of the house stays chilly. That is not a fault to repair. It is what an open masonry fireplace does.
What an insert changes
An insert is a sealed firebox that slides into the existing masonry opening with an insulated liner run up the flue. It takes its combustion air from a controlled path instead of from the room, so it is not competing with your heating system. Wood inserts genuinely heat a floor when the power is out, which is a real consideration up against the canyon. Gas inserts trade some of that output for a flip of a switch and no ash. Both are a different appliance from what most Sandy homes were built with, and both are a bigger comfort change than any surround you could put around them.
The installation is not cosmetic work. The liner has to be continuous and correctly sized to the appliance, the connection at the top has to be sealed and supported, and the existing masonry has to be sound enough to carry it. If we find an unlined flue, a failing crown or a cracked smoke chamber during the site visit, that gets fixed before the appliance goes in rather than being wrapped inside it.
Remodels and the parts that are not the fireplace
Most of the hearth remodels we do in Sandy are on rooms built in the eighties and nineties, and the surround is only half the job. Clearances to combustible mantels and trim are set by the appliance manufacturer, and a beautiful reclaimed beam fitted an inch too low is a code failure and a fire risk at the same time. We plan the surround around the appliance rather than the other way around, and we will tell you early if the design you have in mind will not clear.
Questions
Installation in Sandy — common questions
Can an insert really heat our house during a power outage?
A wood insert can heat the floor it is on, and often more than that with the doors open between rooms. It does not need electricity to burn, though any model with a blower will move heat around better when the power is on. A gas insert may or may not run without power depending on its ignition system, so ask us about the specific unit.
Our fireplace opening is unusually wide. Will an insert fit?
Often yes, and where the opening is larger than the appliance we finish the gap with a surround panel. Where the opening is too small, some masonry can usually be modified, but not always. We measure the opening, the depth and the flue before we ever quote a unit.
Do we need to reline the chimney for a new insert?
Yes, in effect always. A modern insert produces a much smaller and cooler exhaust volume than the original open fireplace, and venting it into a large old flue causes condensation and poor draft. A properly sized insulated liner is part of the installation, not an upsell.
How long does a hearth remodel take in a Sandy home?
The appliance and liner are usually a day. A full surround rebuild depends on the material and the state of what is behind it, and stone work adds curing time. We give a schedule after the site visit, once we know what is behind the existing facing.
Also in Sandy
Our other services here
Chimney Sweep Inspection Chimney Repair Fireplace Repair Gas Fireplace Caps & Dampers Dryer Vents All Sandy services
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