Does Removing A Fireplace Decrease Home Value

Considering removing your fireplace? Yous may be surprised to learn that you're in a growing majority.

Co-ordinate to a National Clan of Abode Builders (NAHB) study, simply 16% of buyers listed a fireplace as an essential household item. Farther prove suggests that fireplaces are on the decline. The Environmental Protection Bureau counted only 13 million fireplaces in 2022, down from more than 17.v million fireplaces two years prior.

By 2022, builders were installing fireplaces in just 41% of single-family unit homes compared with 57% in 2001, according to NAHB. Fireplaces are even less popular in new builds at the lower cease of the price range, with merely 7% of new unmarried-family homes priced under $150,000 in 2022 had fireplaces.

For all the details on fireplace removal, nosotros spoke with Russ Dimmitt, Director of Education at the Chimney Safety Plant of America. Nosotros'll intermission project costs, details, and impact on home value.

An image of a fireplace used to demonstrate the cost of fireplace removal. — Source: (Spacejoy / Unsplash)

Fireplace removal costs

Full fireplace removal is a circuitous process — and an expensive one. Removal of a brick fireplace and chimney on a load-bearing wall can price $ten,000, depending on the size and material. Removal costs vary, depending on several factors.

Full versus partial

Demolishing the stack and breast, installing structural supports, and repairing walls, the floor, and the roof typically costs $3,000 to $seven,500. A partial removal generally runs $500 to $2,500.

Chimney size

Information technology stands to reason that the larger the chimney (or the more than stories), the more piece of work is required, and, thus, the college the cost will be. What may not be every bit obvious is that the bigger the chimney is, the more than debris contractors need to haul away. The cost for a dumpster depends on the location and duration of the rental, only the national average cost is around $470.

Materials

A brick chimney typically costs more to remove than a metal chimney. This is primarily due to the weight of the droppings that has to be disposed of. Masonry, brick, and stone fireplaces, which are "site-congenital," create a lot of debris, dust, and dirt when they're removed, Dimmitt observes.

Factory-built fireplaces are constructed of metal, Dimmitt continues. "They're an appliance and, similar an appliance, are built to exist replaceable. They accept a shorter lifespan." He says they are often replaced with a newer metal fireplace.

Location

If the chimney is in the eye of your domicile or is a structural component of the house, the cost of removal increases. Removing a load-bearing wall is a serious endeavor that usually requires input from a structural engineer in lodge to maintain the structural integrity of the building once the fireplace is gone.

The national boilerplate price of a residential structural engineer is $475, although most people pay somewhere between $450 and $600. The high end looks more like $four,500. Yet, Dimmitt interjects, most current municipal codes restrict fireplaces from being load-bearing.

Contractor

Contractor fees vary, as do the services they offer. Go multiple quotes before deciding who to hire.

Questions to enquire contractors include:

How volition you perform the removal?
How will you keep dust out of the firm?
How will y'all dispose of the materials?
Will you take responsibility for acquiring the necessary permits?
Volition you repair the infinite after removal?

An image of a living room without a fireplace to demonstrate fireplace removal. — Source: (Jonathan Borba / Unsplash)

The fireplace removal procedure

Full fireplace removal is a lengthy, dirty process. Depending on the size of the fireplace, the status of the materials, and the extent of the repairs, fireplace removal can take 2 to five days. For more complicated fireplace removals, the projection may even extend to a week or more.

Hither's an overview of the steps to remove a fireplace — a job best left to the pros, by the way:

Remove or cover article of furniture.
Check whether the chimney chest supports any of the house'southward framing.
Seal off doors to protect from dust.
Dismantle brick-by-brick, using a cold chisel and hammer. (A sledgehammer tin can be used on the mantle if you don't want to relieve whatsoever of the brick or stone.)
Chisel out the mortar and remove the bricks to at least 1 human foot beneath the roofline.
Remove the flashing.
Seal the hole and cover information technology with plywood and shingles.
Seal the fireplace to a higher place the damper using a flue plug or chimney airship.
Frame and drywall the pigsty.
Replace or install flooring where the firebox saturday.

Depending on the location of the fireplace, Dimmitt says it'south possible to remain in the home during demolition, specially since contractors seal off the room they're removing the fireplace from.

Consider a partial fireplace removal

Some homeowners opt for partial removal of their fireplace to lower the projection price. A partial fireplace removal tin also be safer since fully removing a chimney from an external wall can weaken the structure of the business firm.

For example, you tin just remove the stack and replace the roofing over the pigsty to eliminate a moisture consequence. Alternatively, you can leave the stack and remove but the fireplace and chimney breast (the role that protrudes into the room) below the roofline.

Only note that a fractional removal may crave help from a structural engineer to ensure the edifice's structure remains sound.

Alternatively, catechumen a wood-called-for fireplace into a gas fireplace

Another option Dimmitt says is gaining popularity is to convert a wood-burning fireplace into a gas fireplace.

"Wood is not an efficient heat source. Information technology'south radiant oestrus," he explains. Wood fireplaces also release heat, whereas gas fireplaces don't take air out of the home. Gas is not as labor-intensive: No wood to chop and deport, no ashes to clean. Another benefit, he adds, is that "gas is cheap."

According to Home Advisor, gas fireplace inserts cost $2,000 on average, with the price of installation running from $2,300 to $x,000.

Fireplace removal impact on property value

A fireplace has the potential to add thousands of dollars to your home value, particularly if your home is older or is in a neighborhood where most homes exhibit a chimney stack. If you remove a fireplace, yous may slightly lower your home value.

On the flip side, you lot may run across these financial benefits sans fireplace:

Lower energy bills
Less maintenance and associated costs
More interior space
An improved flooring plan

An image of two people sitting on a couch to demonstrate the benefits of fireplace removal. — Source: (Andrew Wise / Unsplash)

Reasons for fireplace removal

Each homeowner's reason for wanting to remove a fireplace is unique. Here's an overview of the nearly mutual reasons for fireplace removal.

Safety concerns

Structural integrity provides a serious reason to consider fireplace removal. A stack that is leaning or crumbling is hazardous for your family and belongings. Impairment or cracks in the firebox may also transfer the heat from a fire, causing boosted damage to your house's structure. In addition to structural damage and the hazard of fire, cracks in the firebox can lead to carbon monoxide intrusion.

Maintenance burnout

Fireplaces — gas fireplaces included — need regular maintenance, which can become an onerous and expensive task for homeowners. The average cost of a chimney sweep is $252, depending on the fireplace'southward location, size, and status. The National Fire Protection Clan recommends an annual inspection to cheque chimneys, fireplaces, and vents, per NFPA Standard 211, but the frequency of maintenance depends on how much you use your fireplace.

However, Dimmitt says, "Sweeping is just the beginning." He says annual inspections past certified technicians are important. "There's no such thing as a rubber fire." CSIA teaches techs and homeowners near fireplace safety.

If you fail to maintain your fireplace, it can cause health problems for you and your family unit. Chimneys deed as exhausts to allow toxic gases leave a home. As these toxic fumes ascent up through the chimney, they get out a trail of soot and tar, which turn into creosote, a highly combustible fabric that can catch fire.

High energy costs

In addition to the price of maintenance, your fireplace could exist increasing your free energy costs. Chimneys often let warm air escape, and then your HVAC organization must work harder to make up for that oestrus loss.

According to the Department of Free energy, about 80% to 90% of the heat from a wood-burning fireplace is lost upwardly the chimney. This estrus loss translates to getting only $10 to $twenty worth of heat for every $100 spent on firewood, or energy consumption increases every bit loftier as xxx%.

Flashing issues dissentious roof

Most roof leaks associated with chimneys result from flashing issues where the chimney and roof meet; although, leaks tin also exist caused by failure of the masonry construction and cement cap. "Water is the enemy of brick and mortar," Dimmitt comments.

Just notation that sometimes water leaks are from condensation rather than roof damage. Condensation tin occur when a gas furnace or h2o heater is vented through an old chimney or if a gas fireplace chimney liner is cracked. Both situations permit moisture to featherbed the liner and come in contact with cooler masonry, thus creating condensation that drips into your home.

Wasted space

The fireplaces of today are largely ornamental, unnecessary for their original purpose of heating. Sometimes their placement in the domicile closes off rooms, preventing homeowners from opening their flooring programme. Fireplace removal can costless upwardly a off-white amount of infinite since chimney breasts and fireplaces take up foursquare footage.

Pollution ordinances/LEED certification

Pollution ordinances based on the amount and quality of emissions are rare in the U.S., just achieving LEED certification can be compromised by emissions or heating issues. Sealing the flue may alleviate this concern, though information technology adds another maintenance price.

Fireplace removal is a delivery

Once a necessary attribute in a firm, fireplaces today are primarily aesthetic features that don't add as much value as they once did. It'southward no longer truthful, as author Gladys Taber in one case stated, that a house without a fireplace is a dwelling house without middle.

Ultimately, a well-considered decision on fireplace removal is yours to make. If your reasons to remove it are sound, the expense tin exist worth it.

Header Image Source: (Spacejoy / Unsplash)