Average cost for fitting fireplace (newbie home owner!)

greensalad

Newbie home owner here discovering the relative prices of things! I'm trying to budget for when I might be able to get my fireplace refitted. It was one of the only black marks against the property when we bought it, I knew I wasn't a fan of it, but also knew I could change it. 

House was built 1968, chalet bungalow style with gas. I believe the fireplace originally was probably gas, may have been capped off. The gas meter is at the front of the house and the gas range in the kitchen sits on the same wall as the fireplace, so presumably the gas line has to pass behind/in the fireplace somehow but I haven't been able to find it.

Fireplace was renovated with a faux-Victorian look which I dislike. Metal "traditional" fireplace with wooden surround and a hearthstone sunk into the floorboards with trim around it. 

My heart desires a more modernist and low fireplace with a limestone surround, gas fire fitted flush into the wall and some tiling around it. Plus a hearthstone that is raised an inch or so above floor-level, rather than being sunken in.

I've found the gas fireplace I like (£2,000) and the limestone surround which can be made to measure (£500). Tile costs I suspect fairly small for that area. Hearthstones my research is a hundred maybe. I would specifically not like to rip up the flooring so I'm looking for something that can fit into the existing inset.

My question is labour. I have been looking at various companies I can contact for fit but the problem is I really like my selected gas fireplace + limestone surround which are from different companies and most of the fireplace firms I can find seem to have a catalogue and only fit from that catalogue. Am I going to have a hard time finding someone independent?

Secondly what sort of cost for labour could I possibly expect? Are there any gotchas that are likely to add to the cost? Am I talking thousands or hundreds?

FreeBear

If the fireplace were against an external wall, fitting a room sealed appliance would be fairly straightforward. Just drill a hole horizontally through the wall, insert a duct & flue, connect stove. But I'm guessing you have a chimney, so that may well need a liner which bumps the cost up quite a bit. I'd budget £2K for all the work and be happy if it came in under £1K.

Ring a few independent Gas Safe engineers rather than a shop that supplies & fits stoves - You are more likely to find an independent who will do the work at a reasonable price without the overheads of running a shop.

greensalad

It's a party wall with a chimney so yes I guess lining would be required. 

Thanks for the tip about finding someone, I'll search around for some gas-safe engineers.

And finally thanks for the pricing guide, that's sort of what I was hoping for really, maybe being able to get the whole job done including fixtures for £3k would be ideal.