Can I remove my fireplace and chimney entirely to open up the wall during a remodel?
In Arden, plenty of the fireplaces people want gone are the drafty open masonry boxes in Royal Pines and Skyland. You can remove the whole thing, but a masonry stack is often structural, which puts the teardown with a mason or GC. And a sealed insert fixes the draft without demo. Our lane is capping any gas line under Buncombe permit.
The drafty-open-fireplace problem
Arden's 1980s-90s neighborhoods, Royal Pines, Skyland, and Glenn Bridge, are full of open masonry fireplaces that pull heat out of the room all winter instead of adding it. That's why so many owners here want them gone. But before you demo, know that removing a full masonry chimney is a structural project: those stacks can tie into the framing and carry roof load, and an engineer or general contractor has to confirm what's load-bearing first. It's not just hearth work.
A smaller fix that solves the same thing
If the real complaint is the draft, a sealed gas insert turns that tired open firebox into an actual heater, and one that still works when the grid goes down. It's worth pricing against a full teardown, which also affects resale. When we do disconnect a gas line, it's shut off, capped, permitted with Buncombe County, and pressure-tested. Capping gas is licensed work in North Carolina; a handyman or mason legally can't.
Quick to reach
Arden is 15 minutes south of our Emma Road showroom, so we can look at your firebox and give an honest reface-convert-or-remove read fast. Call (828) 545-0525.
Fireplace help in Arden
We install and service fireplaces throughout Arden and the rest of Buncombe County — just 15 minutes south from our Asheville-area showroom.