How to Keep Those Home Fires Burning Safely

Our ancestors worshipped fire for nearly half a million years. Today we still derive physical and spiritual comfort from the sight, sound and smell of a crackling fireplace.

But it is not an efficient heat source. More hot air goes up the chimney than into the room. Better heaters have been around for centuries.

Yet, until World War I, most U.S. homes were warmed by fireplaces. When new houses were built without them, Americans huddled before coldly flaming gas logs and flickering red light bulbs set in make-believe grates.

Fireplaces were finally brought back because, practical or not, nothing surpasses their cheerfulness, peace and charm.

Building a masonry fireplace is expensive, painstaking work. The firebox, sloping at just the right angles, must be in exact proportion to the flue.

The midsection must be accurately made, the damper strategically set, the chimney meticulously designed. Special firebricks, fireclay and mortar must be used. Everything must be carefully distanced from surrounding construction.

The slightest imprecision may send smoke billowing into the room or cause the house to burn down.

During the 1950s, factory-built fireplaces were introduced. Now available in all sizes, shapes and styles, they are less costly, firebrick-lined, perfectly engineered and almost indistinguishable from their masonry antecedents.

Kits include prefabricated chimneys, efficient heat-recirculation devices and gas starters. No clearance is required; they can be set directly into existing walls at any level without risk of combustion. They are restoring traditional hearths to American homes.

See-through models are ideal for window walls, for indoor-outdoor use and to serve adjacent rooms. Corner and three-sided models augment visibility and are elegant room dividers. Most dramatic are free-standing models open on all four sides.

Adding a fireplace can boost real estate value and make a home more livable, especially when it’s installed where it will be most appreciated. A family that gathers in the kitchen seldom needs a parlor fireplace. A working couple probably needs a raised bedroom hearth they can see and enjoy from their bed.

Placement may also be determined by chimney site, by limitations on chimney location and by the convenience of using one chimney to accommodate more than one fireplace or barbecue--back-to-back, side-by-side or on an upper or lower floor.

Emphasis is another variable. A spectacular fireplace or fire pit dominates a room.

But, if the focal point is a breathtaking view or a magnificent antique, a subtler hearth is required. It can blend into a wall of paintings and sculpture or a wall of books, TV and stereo equipment. Where space is limited, it can be angled across a corner, tucked into a niche or beneath a staircase. Some raised hearths resemble portholes.

Renovating an existing masonry fireplace is sometimes easy; other times not worth the trouble. A droplight lowered down the chimney may reveal birds’ nests, loose or fallen bricks and other obvious problems.

But only a reputable fireplace contractor or chimney sweep is trained to deal with structural flaws, barely detectable holes and cracks, brick or mortar deterioration and soot or creosote buildup. Any of these might cause a disastrous roof fire.

Chimneys bonded with lime mortar before the advent of portland cement are apt to crumble. The wood surrounding old, single-layer brick chimneys may have turned to combustible charcoal. Flues often need liners and caps.

An inconveniently located hearth can be replaced by a factory-built hearth, its flue offset to reach the existing chimney. Or the hearth can be reversed for use in the room behind. A raised hearth can be dropped to floor level.

A fireplace can be made to appear larger, smaller or differently shaped without internal alteration. Drafty old hearths can be updated with energy-saving dampers, vents, fans, glass doors and heat-exchange pipes.

Homeowners who find a walled-up fireplace are advised to look down the chimney and, if it seems sound, chip away a small viewing hole before dismantling the wall.

Sometimes what seems to be a plastered-over fireplace is actually an old heater. It may have a roof exhaust, camouflaged as a chimney, which can be used to vent a factory-built unit.

Fireplaces can be face lifted to harmonize with the style or spirit of a room.

In a contemporary setting, the mantel may be removed, the front painted or paneled to match walls, the firebox faced with molding, mirror, granite, or whatever suits. In a period room, the contemporary hearth may be “aged” with a Louis XIV marble front, an arched Victorian or hand-carved Colonial mantel, a rough-hewn Gothic facade or a kitsch Art Deco fireplace-surround.

A rustic timbered hearth can be gentrified with a rococo mirror, a graceful shelf, a pair of salvage yard corbels and a Pottery Barn antiquing or marbling kit.

New, antique and custom fireplaces, stoves, mantels and accessories are sold and repaired by specialty stores such as Paykel in Santa Monica, Tulanian’s in Sherman Oaks and Wilshire Fireplace Shops in Beverly Hills and Costa Mesa.

Paykel also sells gas logs, “electric fires” and alcohol-burning hearths which require no chimneys. Wilshire sells antique hearth benches and inglenooks.

Fine old mantels from demolished mansions are sold by salvage dealers such as Architectural Imports in Pasadena, Scavengers Paradise in North Hollywood and MRM Contractors in Los Angeles.

The fireplaces shown accompanying this article are from Superior, The Fireplace Company, 4325 Artesia Ave., Fullerton 92633.

Gibson is a Malibu free-lance writer. WHAT TO DO IF YOUR FIREPLACE SMOKES Some causes and solutions for smoke escaping into the room.

Cause: Solution No cross-ventilation.: Open a window. Firebox too large for flue.: Raise bottom of firebox with firebricks. Chimney damage or blockage.: Repair. Nearby roof, tree or TV antenna: Raise chimney with an extension cap. disrupting air flow. Damper set too low.: Lower top of firebox with firebricks. Double-faced fireplace smokes.: Seal one side with glass door while using other side. Open fire smokes.: Add a hood or flue-top fan. None of the above.: Consult a specialist.

Fireplace Basics

A few precautions:

--A frequently used fireplace should be cleaned and inspected annually.

--Fireplace door, curtain or screen should be a bit higher and wider than firebox opening.

--Glass and solid-mesh doors are safest in homes with children.

--Metal stoves and metal fireplaces can severely burn children.

--Metal stoves and metal prefabs cannot be tiled.

--Coal is too hot for most hearths.

--Never barbecue in a fireplace. It can’t tolerate grease.

--Never extend an unprotected stovepipe through a ceiling or wooden roof.

--Store TV or stereo at least one foot from fireplace, never directly above it, or components may burn out.