Expert: Bart Ogden - 10/27/2008

Question
I moved into my house 6 years ago, at which time the VA inspector told me I had to remove the unsafe wood burning stove in my living room.  The stove was attached by horizontal flue to a steel plate covering a fire box.  I recently decided to remove the plate and begin using the fireplace, so I hired a sweep, who cleaned and inspected the fireplace.  My house was built in 1977, so I have no idea who the manufacturer of the fire box could be.  The sweep told me that my "pre-fab" fireplace was ok to use, so I bought a nice new glass door from Lowe's, which does not perfectly fit, however can be retrofitted by me(I am pretty handy).  The owner's manual says "DO NOT USE THIS DOOR SCREEN ON A PREFAB FIREPLACE."  I cannot imagine why that is.  Am I overlooking something completely obvious, or should I take the door back and start over?

Answer
Tim,

However handy you might be, you must NOT use those doors you've purchased at Lowe's!

They are designed ONLY for masonry fireplaces.

For factory-built fireplaces, you should use only listed and tested doors for the particular Make and Model of fireplace you have as they are designed to not close off any air flow that would help cool the fireplace.

There should be a plate inside the firebox that tells you this information.

If you can't find it, I recommend you contact a local CSIA Certified Chimney Sweep to do some on-site observations and perhaps lead you to the correct door set, listed and tested for that particular fireplace.

You can find a CSIA Certified Chimney Sweep at www.csia.org.

Thanks for using AllExperts.Com and good luck with your project.

Sincerely,
A . Bart Ogden, President
Home Safe Hearth & Chimney, Inc.
Wichita, KS
Voice 316-265-9828
Fax 316-265-9890
www.HomeSafeKS.com

CSIA Certified Chimney Sweep #2653
CSIA Certified Dryer Exhaust Technician #10
NFI Certified Wood Specialist
NFI Certified Gas Specialist
NFI Certified Pellet Specialist
NFI Master Hearth Professional
NCSG Technical Advisory Council Member