Will a gas insert seal off the drafts and old smoke odors coming from my open fireplace chimney?
Yes — though in Weaverville it depends which house you're in. The new Reems Creek builds rarely have this problem, but the older downtown homes with original masonry fireboxes almost always do. A gas insert seals that open firebox with a stainless liner and surround panel, caps the heat-draining flue, and clears out the damp-day smoke smell for good.
Two Weaverville housing stories
Weaverville is growing fast — Reems Creek is full of new construction — but downtown still holds a lot of older homes with inefficient original masonry fireboxes. Those open hearths are the ones drafting heated air up the chimney all winter and letting stale creosote odor drift back down on humid days. If your fireplace predates the subdivisions, it's very likely the culprit behind both the cold draft and the smell.
How we seal and heat it
A [gas insert](/services/gas-insert-installation) slides into the existing firebox, a stainless liner caps the flue, and a surround panel seals the opening — the draft stops and the odor goes with it. Where the open fireplace ran a net heat loss, the insert commonly runs 70% efficient or better and actually warms the room, which matters in a north-facing valley where spring warm-ups come slower than Asheville's. A Napoleon Oakville X4 or Kozy Heat Chaska 25L insert with a blower does the work.
Licensed, permitted, close to home
Weaverville sits on the natural-gas mains, but connecting or extending that line is licensed work in North Carolina — a showroom or mason can sell the firebox, not fuel it. We run and pressure-test the line, pull the Buncombe County permit, and meet the inspector, then [inspect the flue](/services/fireplace-inspection) and size the liner. We're 15 minutes north of our Asheville showroom. Call (828) 545-0525.
Fireplace help in Weaverville
We install and service fireplaces throughout Weaverville and the rest of Buncombe County — just 15 minutes north from our Asheville-area showroom.
Related questions
- Does replacing an open wood fireplace with an insert improve the air in my house?
- Can an unused fireplace or chimney cause moisture and mold problems in the house?
- Why do I smell smoke in my house when the fireplace isn't even burning?
- Does a direct vent gas fireplace use the air in my room for combustion?
- Do gas fireplace inserts burn cleaner than gas log sets?