Fireplaces make a home feel cozy, welcoming and warm. If you custom built your home, chances are you were able to put a fireplace (or two) exactly where you wanted them and you selected whether you wanted them to be gas or wood-burning. If your home is older, though, you might not have a fireplace. Not to worry – fireplaces can be retrofitted to almost any home in Hamilton, Burlington, St. Catharines and surrounding area so that your family’s living space looks like it belongs in a magazine. Before you make the big purchase, here’s what you need to know about buying a fireplace
Budget
Like all home renovation projects, you need to determine what kind of budget you’re working with. When it comes to buying a fireplace, you aren’t just purchasing the unit itself. You will need to consider your cost of installation unless you can do it yourself.
Type of Fireplace
There are a number of different energy sources you can use to heat your fireplace. You can choose electric, gas, wood-burning or bioethanol. The type of fireplace you can have may be limited by certain requirements or the set up of your home. If you have a professional come out to look at where you want the fireplace to be, they can let you know what your options are and what you’d need to do for everything to work.
Design
When it comes to the overall appearance of your fireplace, there are many options out there. You may even find a way to have a custom made mantle, should you want one. You will have to know what you want the finished look to be so that you can choose the appropriate products for installation. You can select brick surrounds, tile ones, or wood mantles – basically, if you can imagine it then you can likely find this option for your fireplace.
A Flue System
Once you have decided which type of energy source you’re going to be using for your fireplace, you will need to make sure your home has the appropriate flue system so that there isn’t any harmful smoke or gas going into your living space. For example, if you select to have a wood-burning fireplace then you will need to make sure you have the appropriate chimney.
Ventilation
No matter what kind of fireplace you have, you need to make sure your home has the appropriate ventilation in place. A fireplace is meant to create a warm space for you to enjoy, but the smoke created as part of that can cause respiratory issues for you and your family. This is especially important if you have a gas fireplace because you don’t want gas leaking back into your living space.
Adding a custom fireplace to your home can go a long way to making your home feel more inviting and keeping it warm during those cold winter months. Each home, if it doesn’t already have a fireplace, may not be suitable for just any kind of energy source so it’s important to do your research and make sure the fireplace you want is compatible with your home.
If you live in Hamilton, Stoney Creek, Grimsby, Burlington, Ancaster, Dundas, Milton, Oakville or St. Catharines, and you are considering adding a fireplace to your home, we would love to help. Contact Hamilton Home Comfort today for a consultation.
