What's the best way to convert a wood-burning fireplace to gas?
In Swannanoa, a lot of wood-to-gas conversions are happening inside rebuilds — storm recovery put hearth decisions in front of homeowners who hadn't touched their fireplaces in decades. For Grovemont's 1940s-to-60s masonry fireboxes, the best path is a sealed gas insert on the town's natural gas, and if walls are already open, this is the cheapest moment you'll ever have to run the line.
Converting while you rebuild
Recovery work across the Swannanoa Valley has turned into an unexpected fireplace moment: when a home is already opened up for renovation, routing a gas line to the firebox is dramatically simpler than retrofitting through finished walls. We've been folding conversions into rebuilds since the storm — the plumbing of the job disappears into work already underway, and the finished house comes back warmer than it was before. The Helene outages also changed what people ask for: millivolt and battery-backup ignition, so the new hearth heats even when the power doesn't. If your contractor is mid-project, a phone call now saves opening walls twice.
Grovemont's mid-century masonry
The 1940s-through-60s homes around Grovemont came with honest masonry fireplaces that were never efficient — open fireboxes that can actually run a net heat loss while burning. A sealed insert with a correctly sized liner converts them into real heaters, and the liner matters doubly here: river-valley fog, cold-air pooling, and damp air are hard on masonry chimneys, and the new stainless liner takes the weathered flue out of service. Vented log sets stay available for sound chimneys where the look is the whole point.
Buncombe permits, fifteen minutes from the shop
Swannanoa has natural gas service, the permit goes through Buncombe County, and we pressure-test and meet the inspector on every line — that's what licensed gas work means, and it protects the insurance and resale paperwork on a rebuilt home. We're 15 minutes west at 629 Emma Rd; come see inserts and log sets burning, or call (828) 545-0525 for a free in-home assessment.
Fireplace help in Swannanoa
We install and service fireplaces throughout Swannanoa and the rest of Buncombe County — just 15 minutes east from our Asheville-area showroom.