Fireplace Services

A gas fireplace is the rare project where great craftsmanship disappears and poor craftsmanship is permanent. The unit on the wall is the easy part; the venting geometry, the gas-train sizing, the framing clearances, and the termination placement are what decide between twenty quiet years of clean heat and a callback every winter. We install gas fireplaces and direct-vent inserts as a specialty, holding the same engineering discipline whether it's a builder-grade insert or a wide linear ribbon-burner meant to be the focal point of the room.

The work starts on paper, with a load and venting plan, before a tool comes out. Direct-vent and sealed-combustion units live or die on their vent run — every elbow, every foot of rise, every inch of horizontal travel shifts the restrictor-plate setting and the draft. We size the coaxial or co-linear pipe to the install manual's vent table, set the flue restrictor to your elevation and run length, and pick a termination — flush, snorkel, or high-wind hood — that won't nuisance-trip in a gusty spot. Sorting all of that out in advance is why our installs burn clean from the first light instead of getting "tuned" across three seasons.

The gas side is engineered rather than improvised. The flex connector and CSST are sized to the appliance BTU load, the code-required sediment trap goes in ahead of the shutoff, the bonding clamp goes on the corrugated stainless tubing, and the whole drop gets pressure-tested with a manometer before flame is ever introduced. When an insert drops into an existing masonry firebox, we run a dedicated, correctly-sized liner from the appliance collar to the cap — a true positive connection — instead of venting into an open flue that condenses and back-drafts. That one decision is the most common dividing line between a premium install and a cheap one.

Framing and finish earn the same care, because that's the part you live with. Zero-clearance and ventless fireboxes are framed to the manufacturer's combustible clearances exactly — never shaved — and the hearth extension and surround meet code projection. We seal the glass front and its barrier gasket so the unit holds its negative-pressure draft, fit the surround and louvers cleanly, and install the ASTM F2972 barrier on units that require a safety screen. Then comes commissioning: manometer-verify inlet and manifold pressure, set the high-low flame-height calibration, run the blower and snap-disc, and finish with an ambient CO check while it's running.

The full range is on the table — direct-vent sealed inserts, vent-free fireboxes with ODS-protected log sets, see-through and two-sided units that double as room dividers, freestanding direct-vent gas stoves, and premium linear contemporary fireplaces finished in glass or fire-glass media. The controls homeowners actually want come with them: thermostatic remote and receiver kits, millivolt wall thermostats, smart Wi-Fi modules, and battery-backup packs so the unit still lights during an outage.

What a design-led installer delivers isn't only the appliance on the wall — it's the certainty that it was sized, vented, gassed, and commissioned by someone who reads the manual as the minimum rather than a suggestion. We document the venting plan and the commissioning readings, leave the job site clean, and stand behind the result. A gas fireplace ought to be the warmest, quietest, most reliable thing in the room — and the best-looking.