Will removing my fireplace devalue the house?

Tucker

I removed one very similar from my house when I knocked through to our extension and I couldn't wait to get rid of it.

It was the same fire with a pine surround and was a waste of space. I don't like gas fires and would rather have nothing and be sure I'm not poisoning the family.

Firstly, it didn't look great. Secondly, it was never used as it was far less efficient than the boiler as it made a big dent in the gas bill using both.

Thirdly and most importantly for us, it was drafty in winter if the wind was in a certain direction. It used to freeze my feet, so for the last winter we had it all taped up.

I enjoyed ripping it out and would do the same again if I bought a house with one of those in.

thegoodlifewannabe

if i were you looking at the picture put the telly where you want it and where the telly is now get a new modern corner fire and make a bit of a feature of it then there is still a fire and you have the telly where you want i like fires in a living room but if i were to buy your house i would have a new fire put in anyway because it looks really dated no offence

blizeH

One thing, annoyingly, is that the fireplace does look a lot nicer in real life. A lot nicer. It still looks a bit naff, but I was looking at the picture before moving in, planning things which always involved ripping it out, then when I went into the house I saw it and was genuinely a bit gutted that it's not as bad as it looked in the pictures. That was when the indecisiveness started :-)

Sunnyday

Just a thought but instead of painting it completely brilliant white (which may make the rest of the room look dingy in comparison) why not paint it an off white or cream and then have it finished in one of the marbling effects. I`ve seen these done with paint and fine brushes and they do look good. You can choose what colour marbling that you like to match other surroundings - result expensive looking fireplace for not a huge cost.

HTH

SD

ormus

sell the TV. id rather look at a beautiful fireplace.

theres fcuk all on the TV anyways.

blizeH

I do like the sound of that Sunnyday! Thank you! Definitely worth a go anyway.

ormus, you're obviously watching the wrong shows if you'd prefer to watch a fireplace than a TV

gem599

Just to add we've bought a house and just removed an identical fire place from our lounge. We had no worries about doing so as we had very little usable wall space with it where it was, and have kept the fireplace stored in the garage in case the next owner ever wants to put it back.

We've plastered over the hole and have our TV on a unit exactly where the fire was, and when we get the carpet replaced the hole in the flooring will be no more! (also we found an old lottery ticket behind the frame when we removed it so you might find something exciting behind yours. it wasn't a winner though!)

Do what suits you.

ormus

blizeH wrote: »

I do like the sound of that Sunnyday! Thank you! Definitely worth a go anyway.

ormus, you're obviously watching the wrong shows if you'd prefer to watch a fireplace than a TV

big brother or the fireplace?
mmmmmm let me think for a minute.

blizeH

Thanks gem - what did you do with it? Just plaster it up completely? Or replace it with another (electric?) fire or just used the space for something else?

ormus you're definitely doing it wrong! I watch loads of TV but never anything like those reality shows. Try House, Dexter, Lost, True Blood, The Mentalist, The Wire, Band of Brothers etc - you might be surprised just how good TV can be

EddyH_2

Our room was very similar to the one in the OP's photo and we removed the gas fire and surround and replaced with a 50" wall mounted TV and a floating shelf below for the centre speaker and some photo frames all the cables are hidden and the related 'boxes' are in a corner. The unexpected gain that we noticed was a feeling of much more space due to the removal of the hearth and no longer having a TV unit there was alot more free floor area.

If you want some ideas on how it could look than have a look at the DIY section on AVForums.