Craving a Fireplace!

I want one too!!! Of course the fake ones pale in comparison to real wood-burners... You could try looking into these Amish electric fireplaces that I've heard some good things about--no personal experience though.

Do remember if considering gas that if you are using ventless you will get a LOT of moisture in the environment (bad for books and art works on paper). You may want to get a dehumidifier. Something to keep in mind.

Demolition Depot on 125th St,, go to their website. They have an enormus inventory of beautiful anitque fireplaces. If you see something that you like ask for Evan. Evan has been collecting things like fireplaces, lighting, toilets, etc. from nyc apts for over 40 years.

As far as making it operational, can't help you with that.

What ieb said, and also shop around at antique stores.

One you have the mantel, you also need to do the surround (the part between the mantel and the opening,) the firebrick inside, and the hearth in front. All those need to be done right to make it look real.

portable and ventless if you like smaller moving it from your kitchen to living/lounge area wherever your orgy is preferred..

saw this company while strolling thru west LA...

http://website.informer.com/visit?domain=brasafire.com

frnds say gas is costly but they only use when people are over .. is there an NY counterpart to this store?

been meaning to check it out

Funny you should ask ~ I've been visiting a place that has an electric "fireplace" & I like it more & more. I think they're only a couple of hundred dollars & they're like a cabinet, so you can place it where you want it. With a real fireplace, there is a lot of warm air that goes up the chimney & after those people burned their house down on Christmas Eve, that "fireplace" looks better & better. The coals glow & the flames flicker & there is a heater option, too, so it will give you heat as well as ambiance. Call an electrician so that you you can hide the cord & you're done, although you could also call a carpenter to add some molding around it to cover the gap with the wall. I'm more & more smitten with the idea.

The next time I'm there, I'll see if I can find who the manufacturer is.

Some fireplace insight...
We have 2 fireplaces, one in the master and one in the living room.
Master bedroom fireplace used one time in 19 years.
Living room FP, we used to use it much more in the winter and to be fair there is nothing like coming home on a cold snowy night to a roaring fire. The problem is that if your going to burn wood you need outdoor space even if you buy 1/4 cord at a time. Wood fires make lots of ash and no matter what you do, some smoke drifts into the aparment. So after a few years you down grade to duralog. You buy a 9 log box at costco which weighs 50lbs. Now your burning this chemical cylinder and those chemicals are drifting into your home and nose. Then 2 seasons go by and you wonder when the last time you lit that thing.
Going foward, the only FP I would be interested in is a gas FP that turns on and off with a switch.

There is a furniture store around 82nd & columbus called something like "Good old things" that has a whole inventory of marble fireplaces for sale. I was tempted to get one myself, but they are pretty pricy.

Falco - you can avoid having smoke drift into your room by having an exhaust fan on the roof to ensure the fireplace drafts properly. This was done for the fireplace in our apartment (by the original builder) I guess because he knew that the winds outside on a high floor would cause a downdraft in the fireplace.

And you actually leave a fire going at full blast when you're not home?

I wouldn't leave a candle burning in my home unattended.
falco's only (healthy) fear is fire.

Instead of electric (despite their advances, they still look pretty fake), why not try fuel gel or alcohol? Here are some nice examples.

http://www.hearthcabinet.com/

Fireplace in an apartment building is not as good as it sounds, in many cases there are issues with smoke from other units invading yours. Some high end buildings have actually forbid their use.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/16/nyregion/16bono.html

It’s not the war against third world debt, but still.

The New York Times
Bono, the lead singer of U2 and a globetrotting activist for social causes, has become involved in a battle that may be as intractable as loan burdens in the developing world — a Manhattan co-op dispute.

One of his adversaries is a fellow rocker, Billy Squier, best known for 1980s songs like “The Stroke.” The two live in the San Remo, a storied building with twin towers that loom over Central Park West. (It is the same building that rejected Madonna in 1985 when she sought to buy an apartment.)

The dispute is over whether hazardous smoke from fireplaces, including Mr. Squier’s, is drifting from chimneys into the penthouse duplex where Bono lives with his wife and four children. About a year ago the co-op board banned the use of fireplaces throughout the building, angering fireplace owners, who love a pine-scented blaze in the city as well as their enhanced property values.

There are seven working woodburning fireplaces in our building, and even with roof fans, there's definitely smoke that drifts into the hallway and into other units. These are all modern, adequately sized fireplaces. They've all checked out OK in inspections. I think it's just a function of living in the city and of relatively small units having relatively large fireplaces.

The traveling smoke smell does bother some people, but the fireplaces are so infrequently used (maybe 3x per year) that we've taken a "live and let live" attitude. The informal house rule is to keep a window open to improve the draft and keep the smoke smell out of the hallway as best you can.

I also swear that our cheap, poorly fitted replacement windows are actually allowing some of the smoke smell to seep back in from outside rather than inside, and I was told (deservedly) that I'm free to spend the $15k it would cost to re-replace my unit's windows with better. :p

In the new buildings, they only do gas and the units that have them have individual flue pipes.

I, too, know that craving well-& I gave into it back in 2004.

As I reside in a post-war co-op that comes close to frowning upon stove pilot lights, here's what I did:

Firstly, since a real one was out of the question, & the fake ones I'd seen up to that point looked exactly that, I searched a little further & found a dealer online named, "My Favorite Things".

They offered an array of stylish, large, fake house sized mantels, complete with marble surrounds & hearth. These were NOT the standard, puny little obviously fake ones you usually see.

Well, I went all out. I ordered a real wood, "crackling" electric log (non-heating) wrought iron fireback, brass andirons, screen, & toolset, bellows... & even an antique bedwarmer to hang on the side!

These accessories were ordered from Hansen Wholesale; the bedwarmer, from Ebay (can't recall the specific dealer).

I completed the look with a mantel clock, & hung an antique reproduction mirror, flanked by 2 antique reproduction
colonial style sconces.

All I can say is that it's the best decorating element in the apartment, as the results were way beyond my expectations. Also, the wall that item
on happens to be a little wider than the fireplace itself, so it really looks like it belongs there (to me, anyway).

Hope this helps & inspires you further. I'll post a picture later, as I'm out now. Good Luck!!!

CORRECTION: "item" in 2nd to last paragraph should read "it's".

Lad I live in a similar type building and have had similar type problems.
Your "traveling smoke" issue may be something else and not your windows. Do you have HVAC? If so, any fresh air source for venting may be the culprit and the smoke from a neighboring building believe it or not.
I cried bloody murder one night to my whole building but later discovered the exhaust pipe for my HVAC had a 1 to 2 inch gap between the pipe and the building wall sucking in smoke from outside air. Sounds impossible I know but you could smell it opening a window and my building neighbors had no fires going.

I just took 2 pics, but there's no option to attach them.

Not sure if it's my device (HTC EVO4G), the site or both. Any suggestions would be welcome.

Many thanks.

If you want a fireplace, buy an apartment with a legal fireplace. Don't put your neighbors at risk with some dangerous fuel burning contraption or a glorified space heater.

Otherwise, do as bramstar and NWT suggested and buy a mantle. Then place a TV/DVD Player in it and buy this http://www.amazon.com/Fireplace-DVD-Burning-Anamorphic-FullScreen/dp/B001KNAI2Q

Sorry, I meant to write what ieb and NWT suggested.

Thank you everyone for the great suggestions and leads. I am still hopeful that all this "global warming" will slow and the eventual instillation of my authentic looking fireplace one day will be enjoyed during a cold snowy day!

Jem,

look at http://www.hearthcabinet.com/index.php

JEM:

Please Email me @ gutaconas@gmail.com for the 2 fireplace pics, as there's no provision on my device for attaching links or files when responding within a website forum.

Thanks!

P.S: Two of my neighbors came to my apartment yesterday for the 1st time...& take a guess as to what they immediately complemented me on?

Back to the San Remo dispute.
One resident, Mitch Miller, the host of the 1960s television program “Sing Along with Mitch,” had little sympathy for the log-lighting set. “If people want fireplaces, let them go live in the country,” said Mr. Miller, who is 96.
Correction: May 18, 2007
A front-page article on Wednesday about a dispute over fireplace smoke at a Manhattan co-op, the San Remo, that involves Bono, the lead singer of U2, and another rocker, Billy Squier, gave an erroneous age in some copies for Mitch Miller, another resident and the host of the 1960s show “Sing Along With Mitch.” He is 95, not 96.

Take Away:
1.Anyone could lose their right to use their own fireplace.
2.Mitch Miller, stickler for detail and a bit of a dick.

The electric fireplace I was raving about is from Twin Star International & there is a website, classic flame dot com. It is 120 volts, 12.5 amps, 60 Hz. I'm sorry they're not made in the US & they have some models that are frankly ersatz (a bookcase/entertainment center/fireplace, anyone?) but they also have some attractive models & seemingly a range of prices. Good luck. You could certainly use that sucker today!

Still craving that fireplace with my new "remodel" in progress. Looked at Demolition depot but they are $$$$. Any thoughts on where one would look to find and get installed a full fireplace (it would be used as a decorative element)? I thought of eBay but cannot judge fro the photos. Thanks.

Try Olde Good Things. They could also recommend someone to do the masonry on the inside. There's also http://www.wmhjacksoncompany.com, and I've seen stores on E. 58th or 59th or low 60s (on way to or from the bridge) with lots of mantels.

You have only until next month to install a new WBF in NYC, I believe. Then banned forever with grandfather clause.

I assume that's the deadline for permit application, but really who knows?

Thanks NWT-- i was at Try Olde Good ... and didn't find anything that I both liked and could afford. I will surely visit the Jackson store on 17th. If you walk by the mid town store near bridge, note the location for me.

Alan this is only going to be a decorative fireplace. I just don't want it to look that way at first glance. It will be sad to do away with real fireplaces!

JEM, I'm considering installing one of those Edwardian-era cast iron fireplaces. There's a place out on Long Island that sells reclaimed models, and another place in North Carolina, but unfortunately the bulk of them are overseas, in Britain.

However, nothing is outside the realm of possibility. You can certainly buy one and have it shipped (it'll be beastly expensive -- almost as much as the unit itself).

OR you can just buy or have a wooden fireplace surround made for your space. There are thousands of ideas out there.

Here's what I'm considering for my space: http://www.clarketooling.co.uk/tools/Gloucester_Cast_Iron_FireplaceL.jpg

That petite cast iron fireplace would go nicely between my two living room windows.

BUT ... I'm also considering possibly going in a whole other direction. I have a giant wall unit holding everything from books and CDs/DVDs/VHS tapes to my extensive audio system and my ancient "portable" television. I'm in the process of planning out "pipe shelving" that will run along the perimeter of the ceiling of my foyer that should hold my entire library.

But instead of buying a set of cabinets to house my audio/visual equipment, I'm now considering custom-building a massive "fireplace" along that wall with a deep mantle and surround set atop a high hearth (18 inches) -- finished in Z-Brick -- with storage beneath. I'd use the long, deep mantle to hold my stereo components, and I'd set my new flat-screen TV (55 inches) inside or in front of the firewell. That concealed firewell will be perfect for hiding the tangle of wires.

NYCMatt either option sounds neat! You need a rather large space for option number 2. Wish I had that kind of space. Thanks for the thoughts.

Flat-screen teevee? Seriously? Don't those emit radiation that leads to communism?

Anyway, all of youse, you know what you really want is a shameless-hussy red Malm 34Zircon, a Preway, Majestic or maybe a Fireorb.

Yikes, and I thought MYCMatt had taste! NOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!