Flat Rock's housing stock leans historic — homes dating to the 1800s with oversized open masonry fireplaces and aging clay flue liners. Steady Flame Fireplaces carries and installs Heatilator, and a sealed Novus nXt 36 direct-vent unit adds modern fire without trusting that old flue. See it 30 minutes north in Asheville. Call (828) 545-0525.
Hundred-year-old masonry, modern fire
The charm of a historic Flat Rock home is also its heating problem: those big open fireboxes and 1800s clay-lined flues pull cold air into the room and send warm air straight up the chimney. A sealed direct-vent Heatilator fixes the draftiness while keeping the room's character — the Novus nXt 36 runs 26,000 BTU of sealed, controllable heat and vents through a coaxial sidewall pipe, so the fire stays in the room instead of feeding the chimney. If you want to keep the original firebox, a sealed insert does the same job inside it.
Skip the failing clay liner entirely
The nice thing about direct-vent for an old house is that it doesn't need the chimney at all. A cracked or undersized clay liner is a common find in homes this age, and relining is its own project — but a Novus nXt vents out a sidewall and never relies on that flue. For a lot of historic Flat Rock owners, that's the cleanest path to a safe, warm fire without opening up a century-old chimney.
Henderson County permit, character intact
Gas piping is licensed work in North Carolina — a mason can rebuild your firebox beautifully but legally can't connect the fuel. We're a licensed gas contractor: we run and pressure-test the line, pull the Henderson County permit, and meet the inspector, honoring clearances so the historic finish stays intact. Come see the Novus nXt in Asheville first. The in-home estimate is free — call (828) 545-0525.
Fireplace help in Flat Rock
We install and service fireplaces throughout Flat Rock and the rest of Henderson County — just 30 minutes south from our Asheville-area showroom.