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APRIL 14, 2017
Making the most of your fireplace
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BY BART TYLER
our fireplace is one of the most important design elements in your home. It’s where your eye is drawn first when you first enter the room. Be it dramatically presented within a formal mantle, heavy stone façade or just an old fashioned Rumford, your fireplace has a second function: to be used and enjoyed with ease and safety. The first question customers ask is: Fire screens or glass doors? This is more than a decorative decision. My advice is always that glass doors are a better choice. Glass doors are not simply great decor. They give you control. While the fire is best enjoyed with the glass doors open, the built-in screen doors give you complete protection against both flying sparks and tumbling logs. Doors can prevent smoking and back draft that sometimes occurs when the fire is not fully underway or wind picks up outdoors. Doors are great safety for families since they are attached and cannot be toppled over by pets or children. There are considerable energy savings as the doors prevent your house venting overnight while you wait for the embers to die down before you can close the flue. As you may know fireplace chimneys are excellent at exhausting house air — more
than an open window. Importantly in many municipalities when fireplaces are a part of new construction they are required by code. Fireplace doors are available in a nearly infinite variety of styles and finishes. They can be custom fit to any application from arch to corner fireplaces and to accommodate complex facades and mantles. There are sometimes reasons to choose a fire screen instead. One is price as glass doors are generally more expensive. Some people object to the look of fireplace doors, although I personally think they are the best look. In certain historic applications fireplace screens may be deemed more appropriate as glass doors were not available “back in the day.” It’s important to have a relatively smooth hearth floor in front of the fireplace for the screen to stand steady on. Also you need to have hard floor space near the fireplace where you can stand the screen from time to time while you are tending to the fire. Very large fireplace screens can be unwieldy and you should consider a free standing screen that has doors that open so that you don’t have to move it. Fire screens are available in three basic types: flat, folding or spark guard. Flat screens are the most popular these days. Available in styles from rustic to con-
temporary/elegant these screens stand flush to the fireplace opening. To look right they need to be proportional to the fireplace, usually overlapping 1 inch or a little more at each side and the top. In some cases custom sizing is preferable to get the right fit. Folding screens are more forgiving. Within reason, their height can be lower than the actual fireplace opening and still look right and provide adequate spark protection. They are available in a broad variety of colors and styles as well. Spark guards are the least decorative and least expensive — they are design neutral. Basically a plain screen material on minimal frame that wraps at the top and sides to the facia of the fireplace. Whether you are shopping for glass
doors or freestanding screens there is considerable choice these days in colors and styles to suit any decorating scheme. We suggest that you come to our showroom to see for yourself. Be sure to bring measurements of the firebox opening and if possible a picture of the fireplace. In the case of fireplace doors I will later come to your home for a final measure and to further discuss color and other design choices. Many a client has arrived at our shop wary of the chore of shopping these products… and then left a fireplace enthusiast. Bart Tyler of Kelloggs & Lawrence in Katonah is a certified fireplace draft and venting specialist with over 20 years experience.
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