West Jordan · Salt Lake County
Replacing a 1990s Fireplace Front in West Jordan
Nearly every hearth remodel we quote in this city starts the same way: a homeowner who is tired of a 1990s brick-front fireplace with a brass trim kit, and a room that has been rearranged around it twice since.
The temptation is to design the mantel first. We would rather start at the roof and work down, because the venting is the part that constrains everything else and the part nobody can change later without opening a wall.
Working with a chase you already have
The framed chase on a typical West Jordan house is a gift if you use it. It is a ready-made, code-clearance route from the firebox to open air, and it usually accepts a modern direct-vent gas unit or a wood insert with a new liner run through it. Reusing the chase keeps the job inside one room and off the roof for most of the work. What we have to check first is the internal dimension, the number of offsets in the existing pipe, and whether the chase was built with the firestops it should have. Those three answers decide which appliances are actually on the table for your house, and that list is shorter than the showroom implies.
Going from wood to gas, and why people here do
A fair number of these conversions come down to the burn restrictions. Sitting on the Salt Lake Valley floor means the coldest, stillest evenings of the year are frequently the ones you are not allowed to light a wood fire on, which is precisely when you want it. A sealed direct-vent gas appliance is exempt from that frustration, draws its combustion air from outside, and does not depend on the house being at positive pressure to work.
The trade is honest heat versus convenience. A good gas insert genuinely heats a room; an open wood fireplace mostly does not. If radiant heat from real wood is the point for you, we would rather fit a proper wood insert and a stainless liner than talk you into gas you will resent.
What a full remodel involves
Demolition of the old surround, framing changes if the new unit is a different size, the appliance and its venting, non-combustible hearth and facing materials to the manufacturer's clearances, gas line and electrical where required, and finish. We give you the clearance requirements in writing at the design stage so your tile choice and your mantel height are decided against real numbers. We are licensed and insured, and we will tell you when what you have drawn cannot be built as drawn.
Questions
Installation in West Jordan — common questions
Can I put a gas insert into the existing fireplace without touching the outside?
Usually yes. A direct-vent insert vents through a coaxial pipe run up the existing flue inside the chase, so the work stays indoors apart from a new termination at the top. The limiting factors are the chase dimensions and how many bends the run needs.
How high can the mantel go above the new firebox?
That is set by the appliance manufacturer, not by taste, and it varies a lot between models. We give you the mantel and combustible-clearance figures for the specific unit before you commission any millwork, because moving a mantel after the fact is expensive.
We want a fireplace in a room that has never had one. Is that realistic?
Often, with a direct-vent unit that can terminate through an exterior wall instead of the roof. The questions are whether the room has an exterior wall in the right place, whether gas can be run there, and what is on the other side of that wall.
Will a new fireplace actually heat the room, or is it decoration?
It depends entirely on what you choose. A sealed insert or a wood insert puts real heat into a room. An open firebox, gas or wood, sends most of its heat up the flue. We will be straight about which one you are buying.
Also in West Jordan
Our other services here
Chimney Sweep Inspection Chimney Repair Fireplace Repair Gas Fireplace Caps & Dampers Dryer Vents All West Jordan services
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