Specifically, what is the best way to remove smoke stains from the bricks above the opening to a wood burning fireplace? Does anyone have any good products or techinques that do this? Thanks for your help!

Technorati Tags: bricks, smoke stains, thanks for your help, wood burning fireplace

I am thinking of buying a house. It has water damage, due to burst pipes. I am considering this, because I love the area, a LOT. I know it needs a lot of work, I am willing to do that. The house, strangely enough does not have any heat system! It does have a wood burning fireplace. (Who would build in a northern state and not put heat in???) I had a home once where it had Electric heat in the upstairs. Could something like that be put in? I do not want the pipes to burst once I fix everything! That would be horrible! The home does not have a basement. Since it does not have a basement, would it make it that much harder? Would it be impossible to have a decent heat source there? I have a relative who could help me with plumbing. I would have to pay someone to install heat. there is no heat, other than the fireplace. But we have gotten by here on my farm in Wisconsin with only a fireplace! I want to live in this area, and I cant afford to otherwise. Is it a lost cause?

Basicaly, I want to know if the pipes will burst again, with no underground heat. I had a home without a basement, but the heat was under the floor. A firplace only warms the air in the room. Is it risky?

Technorati Tags: buying a house, electric heat, firplace, heat source, heat system, pipes, plumbing, upstairs, water damage, wood burning fireplace

We moved into a house with a fireplace for the first time. It is a wood burning fireplace, with the glass doors and a fan built in for whatever reason. I do not know enough…AND i cannot seem to get a straight answer on whether I’m supposed to leave the doors open or closed while burning. We are going to use it as a heat source.PLUS…what is the fan for, is it used to blow heat out? Does it have something to do with shutting the doors?…
There is vents, so you run the fan to blow warm air out and shut the glass doors?
I don’t need a cleaning!…I have used this for a year or so, but I always kept the doors open…so they would break. I just think maybe I have been doing it wrong, that’s all…
I guess I should have pointed out this is a fireplace in a modular home(yes,manufactured home,doublewide)…it is only 9-10 years old. The fireplace was built in from the factory, and I have no books. It has a insert with basically the fake stone everywhere around. We used it last winter, but i left the doors open and didnt run the fan….but i think all of my warm air went up the chimney
after everybody telling me "shut"… I get the following…..Thank you for contacting WholeSaleNow.com.

The doors have to be open…..the doors will be closed only on high energy efficient wood burning units….

Thank you for your time.

Kasey Hall
Sales Professional
mail, who is right then?

Technorati Tags: 10 years, chimney, glass doors, heat source, high energy, last winter, mail, modular home, shutting the doors, straight answer, wood burning fireplace

I have a regular gas fireplace. It is supposed to be operated at the flip of the switch but the switch has never worked. We were lighting it manually for a while until we had a gas leak and had to shut it off. We would much rather have a wood burning fireplace but dont know what to do and if we can even afford it. So what should we do and how much would it cost to get a wood burning fireplace?

Thanks

Technorati Tags: gas fireplace, gas leak, wood burning fireplace

I just got an apartment with a wood burning fireplace and I have only ever used my dad’s gas fireplace.

Technorati Tags: apartment, dad, gas fireplace, wood burning fireplace

Ok this is a 2 parter:

We just moved and have a wood burning fireplace we have not used yet, but plan to use in the winter. It has 2 ugly gold vents (look like normal air intake vents around your house but square-hiding an 8 inch or so diameter circular vent under each) and my questions are:

What are these vents for? Are they taking air from inside to fuel the fire? Or does it return heat through those vents into the house?

Also—can I hang a photo frame on top of them? It is a large frame and I could ensure there is some air movement behind by having the frame stick out about a half inch or so if necessary!

HELP!

if it helps the house is built in 1988 and I am pretty sure its an original fire place!

Thanks! My decorating heart cries when it looks at the fireplace all gold-like!

Technorati Tags: air intake, diameter, fire place, heart cries, intake vents, parter, photo frame, place thanks, vent, wood burning fireplace

I am rehabbing a 20 year old house, a total interior gut job.The home has a wood burning fireplace, and we do not want to remove anything on the exterior (i.e. the chimney, etc) but will be using in floor heating in the home.We would like to keep the fireplace for aesthetics and for the occasional chilly Illinois winter night, but it would not be the primary heat source.What type of fireplace-be it insert or whatever-would be best for this? I don’t like the idea of keeping it a wood-burner, as the family has allergies. Does it make sense to convert it to an electric insert?

Technorati Tags: aesthetics, allergies, chimney, electric insert, heat source, job, winter night, wood burner, wood burning fireplace

I burnt myself, it’s a pretty ugly burn. I burnt it on my wood-burning fireplace, like the metal door frame part, trying to put wood in. I washed it off with cool water, and now it’s all scabs, but it still hurts whenever i touch it. When will this go away, both the hurting and the burnt spot???

Technorati Tags: cool water, scabs, wood burning fireplace

Just had our wood burning fireplace chimney relined by a licensed chimney company. They used stainless steel liner down to the smoke chamber. They lined (parged) the smoke chamber itself with regular type-S cement. I understood they should have used a heat resistant mortar like Chambertech, but they insist that it’s not necessary. Are they right? If not, how long would regular mortar hold out? The fire will only be used occasionally (say once a week in the winter).

Technorati Tags: cement, chimney company, fireplace chimney, mortar, smoke chamber, stainless steel liner, wood burning fireplace

I have a built in Heatilator wood burning fireplace. There are vents on the top and vents on the bottom. There are also 5 or 6 circular holes on both sides about the size of a quarter. When I flip the switch on the wall I can hear the fan running. I can also see it running if I peer through the vents with a flashlight at the bottom. It sucks air in the bottom vents, but very very very poorly. Then air BARELY trickles out of the top vent. There is not even enough air coming out to blow out a match. It sounds and looks as if the fan is running strong but the intake and output are so severely hampered that you almost don’t know they are doing anything. If I blow a match out by any of the vents the smoke is barely sucked in at the bottom and BARELY blown out if I hold the match near the top vent and blow it out.
Could it be that something is broken or is it possible that it just needs to be cleaned? IO have lived here for four years and it has always performed this way. Fires burn wonderfully be do almost nothing in the way of actually heating the house as all of the heat goes up the chimney. Has this happened to anyone else?

Technorati Tags: chimney, circular holes, fires, flashlight, intake and output, match, vent, wood burning fireplace