the fireplace

The previous owner of our house had turned the wood burning fireplace into gas. While gas is a great clean option (and much more practical for most), Ben and I decided early on that if it was possible our gas fireplace would be turned back to wood burning as soon as possible. To me, there's something wonderful about the smell- and I really don't mind the mess/smoke much either.

So while we have yet to give our fireplace a face lift- that will come in the next month or so, we worked to pull out the gas line and make it functional.

There were many repairs that had to be done in order to make it work

Removing the Gas Line
The plumber started working on disconnecting the gas line that ran up to the fireplace from the basement. Once the gas was shut down and the line was removed he removed the "innards" of the fireplace- including the faux logs and grate. So we went from having this..
to having this..
The black iron piece above is the new ash door that has yet to be installed- it's a little smaller than the one that we had to replace.

Repairing the Damper
Once the gas line was removed we knew we had to have a new damper installed. The old damper that was originally installed inside the chimney was broken. Because we had to install the damper on top of the chimney, we opted to go with one that seals shut, preventing not only snow and rain from coming in, but it also stops the hot air from escaping.
I was told that because we were going with such a great design we would be able to remove the doors and use a freestanding screen instead- something I've been fighting for.

While the damper was being repaired we had the chimney swept- something that's always recommended.

The Firewood
I assume you're supposed to have the fireplace repaired before you actually buy the wood- but as usual we didn't really follow the rules. A few weekends ago Ben and I went in search for firewood and came home with an entire cord.
And while Ben worked on the bathroom I started stacking. It may have taken me an entire Saturday, but I was happy to do it- knowing that in the end we'd get our fire.
And on Monday night we finally did..
Next on the list is removing the doors- I'm hoping to make my way to Saratoga Fireplace to buy a new screen and some proper tools later this week. We also have to have the chimney repointed and we're going to work on the facade. More to come in the next few weeks.