Removing fireplace - house value

jay7_2

Will removing the gas fireplace in the living room of a 4 bed modern detached house have any impact on value of the house when we eventually decide to sell it? Would many people be put off by the fact that the house doesn't have a fireplace?

I'm not British, people in the country where I come from don't have fireplaces in their homes and I don't se the point in them - especially in houses with fairly small rooms.

Andyalty

I am doing the same over the next week but my house is only a 2 bed semi, I am doing it so it will allow a sofa to do up again the wall where the fire is now.

Kittenonthekeys

Speaking from a personal point of view, if it had been a period house with an original fireplace, I would say no, not a good idea to remove it, it but as it's a modern house, then probably doesn't matter too much either way.
Having said that, there are a great many people in this country who feel that a living room is incomplete without a fireplace or some other focal point.
British winters can be very cold as you probably know, so whilst homes may not have (or need?) fireplaces in your part of the world, we sure do appreciate an extra source of heating here! If there is an ugly old gas fire in there at the moment, could you maybe consider replacing it with a gas 'coal effect' fire, instead of complete removal? We have one of these in our living room fireplace in addition to central heating and it has been in use every day this winter; it makes an incredible difference.
It has also actually been a good selling point for us; our house is under offer.

Is there any particular reason why you want to remove it, e.g. do you just need the extra wall space for storage, etc?

BitterAndTwisted

Many people find fireplaces attractive but one with only a gas fire much less so. What will it look like once you've removed the gas fire? What do you propose to do with the fireplace itself?

cymru09

It wouldn't put me off

ginvzt

Kittenonthekeys wrote: »

British winters can be very cold as you probably know, so whilst homes may not have (or need?) fireplaces in your part of the world, we sure do appreciate an extra source of heating here!

Sorry, but I am from continental Europe, and winters are much colder there (ok, the temperatures go down to -20, -30 every winter), and we don't have fireplaces in living rooms!

The problem with British houses, is that they have very poor insulation, as it seems they are built as if they were in Mediterranean. Lets admit, we live in 20 year old house now and it is not even fully double glazed! My grandma's house, probably some 40 year old, was fully double glazed! (and that was not a recent upgrade, but that is how houses were built there!)

An answer to original question - rip it off. If someone is cold, you can get a portable heater and heat up the room in those incredibly cold British winters (more like you need it in summer, in my opinion). We didn't have one in our previous house, and it was great as we did not need to work out the furniture layout around something absolutely useless.. If it is a woodburner, or an open fire place, I would love to have one, but gas or electric fire are pointless.

jay7_2

I agree with ginvzt. I see fireplaces more as a traditional thing rather than practical. We don't have a fireplace in our current rented 3 bed house and we don't miss it at all. The reason why we want to get rid of it in the new house once we move in is because we would never use it and it occupies a dominant position in a small room so we would be quite limited as far as furniture layout is concerned. We just don't want to do something that will decrease the value of the house significantly because (although we like it) it is not the forever home and I don't see us in the house for longer than 5 years.

CLAPTON

I've removed all the fireplaces from my home except for one gas fire.
I only keep in case the gas central heating goes wrong or we have a power cut so we can at least heat one room.

ginvzt

I think of gas/electric fireplace in the house along the same lines of two taps on the sink (separate for hot and cold water). Yes, you are supposed to plug the sink and mix the water in the sink to the preferred temperature - but have you ever seen anyone doing it?

We have the gas fireplace in this house (rented). Yes, I had it on. But that is because the central heating can't heat up the house properly (20+ year old boiler). How could it, if we had thick ice on inside of the patio doors (with metal frame), and that is with heating 24/7! But I would have just been as happy with portable electric heater.

gem599

We're planning on removing the gas fireplace in the lounge of the modernish house we've just bought because it would give us a free wall to put furnitures/sofas up against.

As far as I'm aware it's not permanent - we were just planning on getting the gas capped off (all properly, of course!) and then storing the wood/marble effect fireplace in the garage so if buyers want it when we sell they still have that option!

BitterAndTwisted

Fireplaces and their chimneys provide a large amount of air-exchange in the room so care needs to be taken that there will continue to be adequate ventilation or condensation and consequent mould could result. Houses which are sealed tight as a drum can have these problems