Fireplace insert

[Rslaugh]

Selling our 11 year old townhouse and the buyers had a home inspection. One of the things flagged by the inspector was the fireplace insert which has some small cracks in it. He says this has to be replaced. Anyone have any experience with this?

[Slik Geek]

By "fireplace insert", do you mean the "refractory" (the stone-like walls that line the fireplaces walls)? If so, here is what a Heatilator brand fireplace manual states:

"...expansion and contraction will cause minor cracking of the refractory. This is normal, unavoidable, and will not affect the performance of the fireplace. If the cracks become large enough that the metal behind the refractory is exposed, or large pieces fall out, the panels should be replaced."

What does yours look like? The home inspector may be flagging something that really shouldn't be a concern. If you have minor cracking, you may want to consider refusing to resolve that particular concern, or offer to fix it at material cost.

[RockyJohn]

When the Air Force stationed me in Portland, Maine in 1982, we rented an all electric home. First electric bill told us we had to find a fast alternative. We ended up getting a fireplace insert so we could burn wood, like many of our neighbors in the same subdivision. We got a Fisher Fireplace Insert. It was a heavy cast iron/steel plate stove with a heavy steel flashing that was fitted into the opening of the existing standard brick fireplace. I could get that sucker so hot it would viabrate the house! I would not have wanted any cracks in the heavy duty type I had.

Point is, it depends upon what type of insert you have. I routinely attempted to fill it with red-hot coals from the hardwood (mostly oak, maple, and ash) I burned. Not something you do with a Heatilator or a gas-type insert. But with these other types, cracks may not be a problem, as the previous poster said.