Will removing my fireplace devalue the house?

blizeH

Hey guys,

I'm planning my living room at the moment, and my massively oversized (but fairly nice marble) fire place is getting in the way of my plans to have a relatively huge TV wall mounted in the centre of the wall.

Yet everyone is warning me not to do it, saying people won't want to buy a house without a fireplace, and that it'll not only deter people from ever buying it in the future, but also devalue the property.

Is that right? Should I try to work around out? Or just rip the thing out?

Sunnyday

Its entirely up to you but i commented on this only yesterday when my friend and i were looking online at houses.

We both agreed that we would never buy a house without a fireplace.

Just my opinion but i always think that a main living room looks rather soulless without one

There are many types of fireplace so maybe you could choose a smaller one as a focal point?

Some people won`t want an enormous telly for various reasons ie high electricity consumption etc. If its a wall hung telly then i wouldn`t want to go to the trouble of taking brackets down and making good the plaster etc, all time consuming and not necesary. Some younger people don`t even have televisions now unless they are really into the home cinema thing, many watch online using laptops.

Just a few things to consider

SD

ixwood

On the property !!!!!! shows, a fireplace or stove is almost always commented on positively as soon as they see it, but I'm not sure if that actually transfers into higher prices. I'd guess probably not.

nickj_2

are you intending to move soon , if you are keep it and get a tv to fit or could it be boxed in ?

Barneysmom

Is the fireplace a really old one, Victorian antique or a design classic?
If it's not of any special value to the house, take it out and board the hole up.

blizeH

Thanks guys - another worry of mine is that it was originally marketed as a 'four bed family home' so yeah, even though it's just me in there, it probably will appeal to families, and families probably like fireplaces I think in a small flat/apartment/batcherlor pad that a lot of younger people would normally go for, it wouldn't matter so much. But in my place it's maybe not ideal.

Problem is, the fireplace is smack bang in the middle of the wall, even a 50" TV may look silly next to it, and I certainly couldn't go any bigger than that Not sure on the boxing in either by the way, it looks nice but it does limit you to always having that same TV I guess.

Barney nope, it's really nothing special. It's marble and looks okayish I guess, but that's about it.

Norma_Desmond

Please don't remove it.....
We're having to spend a fortune reinstating 2 large fireplaces downstairs that 'disappeared' ages ago when this house was unoccupied for years.
It was one of the reasons we got the house 'cheaply' but it's a heck of a lot of work, mess and expense.
What age is your house? If it's a good marble fireplace then you'd be ruining the original look of the room IMHO.

wallbash

Remove it . Its your home , you have it the way you want it .
House is now for 'nesting' not 'investing'

When was the last time you saw a real fire .
Most fireplaces have a wine rack / log basket to fill the gap

blizeH

Thanks again guys, the house is actually only 12 years old but the design is very odd. It has a tudor like bit to the front of the house, and the interior is also quite dated with things like artex ceilings (getting flattened) and dado rails (which I'm removing) and of course also the over-sized marble fire place. It doesn't look too bad but it's just in the way, you know? It's the only wall I can have the TV on too really, the others either have the bay window, or doors to the hall / dining room

I know what you're saying about it not being for investing, but I only live there because of my job, and I work for the police so there's a real bit of uncertainty there at the moment unfortunately. I'm spending a lot of money on getting things done, but mostly stuff like I mentioned above, that will make the house more appealing - the living room I want is going to cost probably almost £3k in labour alone. A big part of that is going to be removing the fireplace to make way for a wall mounted TV, which is why I'm wondering just how much impact it'll have on the price and how much people want it

Norma_Desmond

wallbash wrote: »

Remove it . Its your home , you have it the way you want it .
House is now for 'nesting' not 'investing'

When was the last time you saw a real fire .
Most fireplaces have a wine rack / log basket to fill the gap

The reason we're putting back fireplaces certainly isn't for either investment or decorative taste - we want real fires just as this house would have had 200 years ago when it was built.
OP's house is quite new, so I don't see any problem now they've explained that.

Jonesya

blizeH wrote: »

Yet everyone is warning me not to do it, saying people won't want to buy a house without a fireplace, and that it'll not only deter people from ever buying it in the future, but also devalue the property.

Tosh - if the buyer really wants a fireplace they'll just factor the cost of getting one fitted into the offer they make on the property.

I do think it will reduce the value of the property though:
Before - living room with marble fire place (fireplace, hearth, fire, fitting - ~£1k ???)
After - living room with flatscreen TV bracket (worth £50?, )