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ABOUT FIREPLACES

A fireplace is an architectural element consisting of a space designed to contain a fire, generally for heating but sometimes also for cooking. The space where the fire is contained is called a firebox, a chimney or other flue allows gas and particulate exhaust to escape the building. While most fireplaces are constructed in building interiors, sometimes outdoor fireplaces are created for evening warmth, outdoor cooking or decorative purposes. A fireplace may consist of some or all of the following elements: foundation, hearth, firebox, facing, ash dump door, chimney crane, cleanout door, grate or iron bars, lintel, lintel bar, over mantle, breast, damper, smoke chamber, throat, flue, chimney chase, crown, cap or shroud, and spark arrestor.

TYPES OF FIREPLACES

Masonry (brick or stone fireplaces and chimneys) with or without tile lined flue. Tiles are used to line the flue to keep the corrosive combustion products from eating away the chimney flue lining.

Reinforced Concrete Chimneys: Popular during the 1970s to 1980s. Fundamental flaws (the difference in thermal expansion rates between steel rebar and concrete which caused the chimney flues to crack when heated) bankrupted the US manufacturers and obsolete the technique. This type of chimney often shows vertical cracks on the exterior of the chimney which worsen as the internal rebar rusts.

Manufactured or 'Prefab' fireplace with sheet metal fire box and double or triple walled metal pipe running up inside a wood framed chase with a chase cover and cap/spark arrestor at the top to keep birds out and sparks in. Within about one hundred meters from salt water this type of chimney is subject to rusting. Otherwise it's competitive to the masonry chimney.