Getting a home ready for sale & the fireplace blues

[LuvOrlando]

Looking to comissurate with anyone who has been in a home a long time & has a list of oddball things that they know should be done but it's not big enough to jump on, this is one of those.

A while back someone snapped the handle for our fireplace damper, don't know who or remember when but I wasn't all that bothered. Not a big deal since I could put on a glove and get it opened and closed by twisting from underneath for the infrequent times I wanted to use it, everyone has quirky house stuff like this. So now that we are trying to get ready to sell this was on the long punch list of nuisance items since I suspect the house wouldn't be able to pass inspection without a damper than works properly.

I finally got a workman to do the work and he told me last night that the &^*( rotary control has been discontinued, literally no-one makes these things anymore even though many masonry fireplaces use them so now what should have been a minor thing is not and now it could be this one thing that hold us up. Devil really is in the details.

 

[mrs. magoo]

I have spent the last 3 months just trying to get a mason to come look at my stucco chimney and repair it. I live western NY and while this is not the climate for stucco there are many stucco homes in my city. You would think that masons would work on stucco but no. I have called 15 masons - had one come and give me a ridiculous quote and finally found another one. I am hoping that this one will pan out but we will see.

 

[Jeannie]

Save yourself time, aggravation, and money, and just list it as a non working fireplace. The last two houses my daughter bought had fireplaces that couldn't be used. We just bought a house with a fireplace that was supposed to be in working order. We didn't bother with a fireplace inspection, which would have to be separate from the house inspection, since we were planning on converting it from wood burning to gas.

 

[firefly_ris]

I have spent the last 3 months just trying to get a mason to come look at my stucco chimney and repair it. I live western NY and while this is not the climate for stucco there are many stucco homes in my city. You would think that masons would work on stucco but no. I have called 15 masons - had one come and give me a ridiculous quote and finally found another one. I am hoping that this one will pan out but we will see.

Difficult to find a good mason around here. Our house is made of granite exterior and it took a while to find someone to repoint the chimney a couple years ago. Finally found someone and he did good work but it took him a while to complete -- showed up sporadically until the job was finished.

 

[tvguy]

Or contact your closest Fireplace Store to see what options they can suggest.

 

[LuvOrlando]

I have spent the last 3 months just trying to get a mason to come look at my stucco chimney and repair it. I live western NY and while this is not the climate for stucco there are many stucco homes in my city. You would think that masons would work on stucco but no. I have called 15 masons - had one come and give me a ridiculous quote and finally found another one. I am hoping that this one will pan out but we will see.

Stucco is so pretty but well done paster and even outdoor concrete really is a lost art. It seems a lot of people doing repairs now are more fly by night tha craftsmen. What is wrong with your chimney? You might end up needing to go with homeowners if damage was from a storm or do brickface for the whole thing or maybe add a section of decorative brickface to a small damaged part of the chimney, it might be cheaper to do brickface.

Save yourself time, aggravation, and money, and just list it as a non working fireplace. The last two houses my daughter bought had fireplaces that couldn't be used. We just bought a house with a fireplace that was supposed to be in working order. We didn't bother with a fireplace inspection, which would have to be separate from the house inspection, since we were planning on converting it from wood burning to gas.

I can see doing this if my home were much older where it would be an understandable expense to sidestep. To me I would think a non-working chimney would signal neglect in a home that is under 30 years old. I don't want to offer any red flags.

Good thought to convert to gas as an alternative though, I'll keep that idea on file.

Or contact your closest Fireplace Store to see what options they can suggest.

I think you suggested this a while back. I called every single Fireplace store within driving and none by me do any sort of repair at all, all they do is sell pellet stoves and related items but no fireplace, go figure. I finally started calling chimney sweeps and it seems they do the repairs around here.

I suspect we will need to get a whole new damper with a new style closer put in, no idea the cost range.

 

[SandyinMonterey]

Always happens to us. Most things we've bought gets discontinued. Getting a new dishwasher soon, it has been discontinued. Perhaps ask a realtor's opinion before you pursue anything?

 

[mrs. magoo]

Stucco is so pretty but well done paster and even outdoor concrete really is a lost art. It seems a lot of people doing repairs now are more fly by night tha craftsmen. What is wrong with your chimney? You might end up needing to go with homeowners if damage was from a storm or do brickface for the whole thing or maybe add a section of decorative brickface to a small damaged part of the chimney, it might be cheaper to do brickface.

My entire front of the house is chimney with stucco. It is cracked and in need of repair. I did find a company that is going to work on it so hopefully it will be repaired and last another 80 years. I will be long dead by then so I don't care what happens then. All the masons I called did not do stucco but they all agreed that my chimney needed to be repaired using stucco since it is the entire front of the house. For living in Western NY there are a ton of houses with a stucco exterior good luck to all them when they need a repair.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Save yourself time, aggravation, and money, and just list it as a non working fireplace. The last two houses my daughter bought had fireplaces that couldn't be used. We just bought a house with a fireplace that was supposed to be in working order. We didn't bother with a fireplace inspection, which would have to be separate from the house inspection, since we were planning on converting it from wood burning to gas.

I agree with the OP on this one. If I saw a non-working fireplace I'd wonder why, is there a safety hazard such that it can't nor shouldn't be used? A damper is considered usually needed for the purposes of a fireplace and that's the issue. And I'd probably expect the price to be adjusted according to me now having to fix it. If it was a 1800s home where things have been sealed off understandable but otherwise it just signals the seller didn't want to fix it and could look poorly on them.

I would have gotten a fireplace inspection if for no other reason that to make sure it could be converted to a gas, is there still proper ventilation codes that can be adhered to, is the path to vent stable and easily able to be done, etc. A chimney inspection would be done in order to convert so I would want to know before purchasing a house if there is an issue so I can discuss that with a seller (especially if the issue prevented just using the wood burning part).

We have a gas fireplace and originally the plan was for them to vent just straight out the side of the house (the fireplace is located in the middle of the room) but because we added crank out windows right near where the vent would be that became a no go. So they vented straight through the house taking up about 6 inches from our linen closet upstairs and then through the roof. All of this done during the construction of the house. Converting wood to gas can be quite the project. Best of luck that no issues have popped up for you

 

[tvguy]

Stucco is so pretty but well done paster and even outdoor concrete really is a lost art. It seems a lot of people doing repairs now are more fly by night tha craftsmen. What is wrong with your chimney? You might end up needing to go with homeowners if damage was from a storm or do brickface for the whole thing or maybe add a section of decorative brickface to a small damaged part of the chimney, it might be cheaper to do brickface.



I can see doing this if my home were much older where it would be an understandable expense to sidestep. To me I would think a non-working chimney would signal neglect in a home that is under 30 years old. I don't want to offer any red flags.

Good thought to convert to gas as an alternative though, I'll keep that idea on file.


I think you suggested this a while back. I called every single Fireplace store within driving and none by me do any sort of repair at all, all they do is sell pellet stoves and related items but no fireplace, go figure. I finally started calling chimney sweeps and it seems they do the repairs around here.

I suspect we will need to get a whole new damper with a new style closer put in, no idea the cost range.

Last year we had an electric fake fireplace installed in our wood burning fireplace. When we bought the house 40 years ago we used it daily in the coldest parts of the winter. But most of those cold days are No Burn Days these days, and firewood is just too expensive. $320 a cord

 

[Lord Manhammer]

I have spent the last 3 months just trying to get a mason to come look at my stucco chimney and repair it. I live western NY and while this is not the climate for stucco there are many stucco homes in my city. You would think that masons would work on stucco but no. I have called 15 masons - had one come and give me a ridiculous quote and finally found another one. I am hoping that this one will pan out but we will see.

Try finding someone who works on a slate roof!

 

[Lord Manhammer]

Stucco is so pretty but well done paster and even outdoor concrete really is a lost art. It seems a lot of people doing repairs now are more fly by night tha craftsmen. What is wrong with your chimney? You might end up needing to go with homeowners if damage was from a storm or do brickface for the whole thing or maybe add a section of decorative brickface to a small damaged part of the chimney, it might be cheaper to do brickface.



I can see doing this if my home were much older where it would be an understandable expense to sidestep. To me I would think a non-working chimney would signal neglect in a home that is under 30 years old. I don't want to offer any red flags.

Good thought to convert to gas as an alternative though, I'll keep that idea on file.


I think you suggested this a while back. I called every single Fireplace store within driving and none by me do any sort of repair at all, all they do is sell pellet stoves and related items but no fireplace, go figure. I finally started calling chimney sweeps and it seems they do the repairs around here.

I suspect we will need to get a whole new damper with a new style closer put in, no idea the cost range.

As someone who regularly uses chimney sweeps for my wood stoves, you're much better off getting a sweep NOW than waiting until closer to winter when the prices will skyrocket.

 

[DawnM]

Our CA house had windows with cranks and a few of them were broken (house built in 1910) and no one made them anymore.

We ended up finding used ones online to fit and fixed them that way. Maybe you can find something similar?

 

[LuvOrlando]

Our CA house had windows with cranks and a few of them were broken (house built in 1910) and no one made them anymore.

We ended up finding used ones online to fit and fixed them that way. Maybe you can find something similar?

I started looking for salvage places last night and sent a bunch of requests, hoping the Chimney Sweep has some ideas.

What I find surprising is that in the family hometown town with so many welders in and around the area from Bethlehem Steel noone is making them custom, there must be so many things that could be made as replicas & so many people with the skill to do it for older homes and such. Maybe I don't know the right way to search for what I want, the right words

I can't even find on ETSY and would have expected this sort of thing to have solutions with the new 3 D printers so a craftsman can literally hold a version in their hand to copy it, or at least create a similar version of a thing.

 

[disneychrista]

Not everyone looking to buy a home plans to use the fireplace. The fireplace not working would be no bother to me as I wouldn’t be using it. My house has what I assume is a nice pellet stove insert in the fireplace. I currently am using it as a TV stand.

The flue broke on my parents fireplace and couldn’t be fixed. They converted their fireplace to a dog cave. They cleaned it up. Painted it. And have a dog bed in it.

 

[nw6675]

Last year we had an electric fake fireplace installed in our wood burning fireplace. When we bought the house 40 years ago we used it daily in the coldest parts of the winter. But most of those cold days are No Burn Days these days, and firewood is just too expensive. $320 a cord

My parents replaced their has logs with one and it looks really good!

Luv, we had a similar issue in our last sale because we couldn't turn our gas flames lower. It was crazy how hard it was to find someone!

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Not everyone looking to buy a home plans to use the fireplace. The fireplace not working would be no bother to me as I wouldn’t be using it. My house has what I assume is a nice pellet stove insert in the fireplace. I currently am using it as a TV stand.

The flue broke on my parents fireplace and couldn’t be fixed. They converted their fireplace to a dog cave. They cleaned it up. Painted it. And have a dog bed in it.

Are you in a location (I know you're more north in CA) where fireplaces are common and not only that but also commonly used?

Some locations aren't conducive for fireplaces and thus aren't as common. While most people around here have switched to gas fireplaces people usually want the fireplace to work if they buy a house with it, otherwise it's wasted space and if they ever want to use it an annoyance to get it fixed (and possibly expensive).

Just about every new home here for quite a while comes with a fireplace it's just usually gas for a new build. Sometimes you'll have 2 to 3 fireplaces (one for the great room, one for the master bedroom, one for the basement).

In-law's old house had a gas fireplace they used very frequently, the present home has a wood burning fireplace and they used that also very frequently in the winter.

 

[LuvOrlando]

Fireplace guy said that it could be managed by leaving this one open and putting a new damper way up high on the chimney with a chain hanging down, roughly $300, so I guess that's happening since I am not climbing any roofs.

Another guy is painting, thank goodness, painters willing to manage small jobs was a tough ask not too long ago.

It seems all the everyday odd jobs workers are back to these tasks after vanishing for a few years, I'm assuming the massive builds quieted down a bit.

Totally need to downsize, can't imagine dealing with a big home having so many moving parts as I try to age peacefully, besides, the big house is way too quiet when it isn't filled up with the cacophony of a family.