How do I make a 1970s floor-to-ceiling stone fireplace look modern?
In Fairview, wood heat is part of the culture — big wooded lots, many homes on propane, steady stove and insert demand — so modernizing a 1970s stone wall doesn't have to mean abandoning wood. You can reface for a current look and keep a clean EPA wood insert, or convert to propane; either way the creosote-prone flue gets attention first.
Keep the wood, or convert — your call
Plenty of Fairview homeowners genuinely want their wood fire, and there's no reason a modern remodel can't keep it. A limewash or a clean reface updates the dated stone while a modern EPA-certified wood insert — a Regency, say — goes into the opening for efficient, truly grid-independent heat you own outright.
If you'd rather trade the hauling and cold-start smoke for a switch, converting to a sealed propane insert is the other path — clean, power-optional heat behind the same new face.
Creosote, propane, and the permit
Fairview's wooded lots make wood heat natural, but creosote buildup is the leading cause of chimney fires without a fall sweep, so whether you keep wood or convert, the flue and liner get inspected as part of the job. On the gas side, these rural lots lean propane, set up with the right LP pressures and orifices.
We pull the Buncombe County permit, pressure-test any gas line, and meet the inspector — licensed work no landscaper or mason can legally do. Fifteen minutes from our Asheville showroom.
See it before you decide
Because the wood-versus-gas choice is a real fork here, it helps to see both burning before you commit — our Asheville showroom, fifteen minutes down the road at 629 Emma Rd, displays wood inserts, gas units, and realistic log sets side by side. Whichever way you lean, remember the one non-negotiable: any gas line is licensed work in North Carolina, so a mason or landscaper legally can't connect it. We pull the permit, run and test the line, and stand behind the whole job. Call (828) 545-0525 for a free in-home assessment.
Fireplace help in Fairview
We install and service fireplaces throughout Fairview and the rest of Buncombe County — just 15 minutes east from our Asheville-area showroom.