Friday, October 1, 2010

Fireplace Glass Doors - A Remodeling Option

Fireplace Glass Doors - An Inexpensive Way to Dress Up Your Fireplace

Does your home have a fireplace? Does the fireplace have glass fireplace doors? If not, it’s one of the best investments you can make in terms of beauty, safety, and energy savings. It can beautify that firebox even more than decorating the mantel and all the other benefits come with it. The prices for glass fireplace doors are reasonable and the quality is high. Little skill is required to install them yourself for even more savings. If you can measure, drill a hole and use a screwdriver, you have the required skills.

Quality glass doors on your fireplace keep your firebox from showing its dirty and ugly side. A well-built fire is a thing of beauty and nothing makes it look nicer than the framing of the fireplace with a set of glass fireplace doors. Add to that the energy saving features and the safety provided and you know why so many people have them. You want doors that will stop the draft, but also look great. Whether it’s a hand-crafted masonry fireplace or a factory manufactured zero-clearance model, there are glass fireplace doors to fit it at a reasonable price.

Glass fireplace doors provide safety by keeping small children and pets away from flames and heat. They also keep smoldering fires safely in the firebox when you head for the bed and the fire isn’t totally out. You have never seen a mess like a child playing in the fireplace ashes.

Fireplace glass doors insulate the fireplace when the fireplace is not in use by providing a "dead air" space between the closed damper and closed fireplace glass doors. Once you are finished with your fire you can close the fireplace doors and limit the heat loss up the chimney and continue to radiate heat into the room. Closing the fireplace doors restricts heat from the home from escaping through the chimney. This is even more important if your chimney flue doesn’t have a damper. Even with the doors closed, heat from the fire is still conducted through the glass panels and metal facing though this is not advisable with a large fire. Closing the doors in the summer also helps keep your precious and expensive cooled air inside the house with the same insulating effect.

Many styles and finishes may be chosen to enhance the appearance of your fireplace and home. Quality fireplace doors make the fireplace a focal point of the room. There are two basic types of fireplaces that cover the majority of cases. A masonry fireplace is constructed of brick and mortar by a master and is most often found in older homes. A factory built fireplace is constructed of metal and installed as a single unit in newer homes. Why is this important? For masonry fireplaces, you will need to measure the opening and order doors based upon the opening size. If the fireplace is factory manufactured fireplaces, identifying the manufacturer and model number is the simplest way to order your doors and know that they’ll fit.

Major manufacturers of metal fireplaces include FMI, Martin, Superior, Lennox, Heatilator, Majestic, Temco, Marco, Preway and Heat-N-Glo. The manufacturer name and model number are typically attached to the fireplace. UPDATE: We have found a website totally devoted to Superior Fireplace Doors.

Replacement glass may be purchased if you already have a frame. Tracks come with many fireplaces and provide a channel for the fireplace doors to slide into. If you need to purchase a frame, several options are available for most fireplaces.

A variety of frame finishes including anodized aluminum, frames with a black or polished brass finish, or welded steel plate are available for your fireplace doors. Glass colors may be tempered bronze, clear or gray colored glass. Most fireplaces are black so the most popular color for glass fireplace doors is black. We highly recommend tinted glass as the best solution for a wood-burning fireplace because it hides unsightly ashes left when the fire goes out.

1 comment:

  1. First time poster here at your blog --- please keep it up! I'm enjoying the reads.

    ReplyDelete

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