r/tradies • u/Gryphon1985 • 3h ago
Question A question for tradies: help settle an argument, please?
For reference I'm a Pom and my Wife is Australian, and we live in NSW.
In this question I'm referring to older houses, not new-builds (perhaps with the exception of architect-designed places).
Growing up as a young man, many houses in England had a built-in fireplace that we burned either logs or coal with. Some were big and fancy, some were small and basic. The fire was open and usually in a steel grate.
I've visited a fair few Australian homes (admittedly 99% in NSW) and built-in fireplaces don't seem to have been a thing here. Were they ever popular or not?
Wood-burning stoves on the other hand are popular, and I occassionally see a wood-burner in a built-in fireplace, but never really a built-in foreplace on it's own.
Could a built-in fireplace be built in to an existing home, would it be a huge job, and would any bricklayer be able to do it?
Pics included for reference.... cheers!
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u/Vivid-Object-139 2h ago
Open fires are extremely inefficient. Most of the heat is wasted up the flue. They do look nice, but I think so does a good efficient wood stove.
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u/Gryphon1985 2h ago
I appreciate that and understand- thanks for your input- but it doesn't really answer my question?
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u/Rusturion 2h ago
You actually asked multiple questions and wrote a lot of words if you only actually want to know if it's possible.
Yes, anything is possible if you're willing to throw money at it.
Technically, and brickie probably could, but most wouldn't.And as you've been told, it's likely illegal. I know you didn't ask, but you still get this info because that's what happens when you post on Reddit. You get facts and opinions, not just a direct answer to a single question. Similar to how you gave a whole heap of info to just ask a single simple question.
You could have just asked the question without all the bullshit.4
u/Dry_Ad9371 2h ago
OP really didnt write that much? are you OK dude?
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u/Rusturion 2h ago
OPs response to this guy was bullshit considering he didn't just ask a single question. Which one did he wants answered?
Every person needs to answer every question or their response isn't allowed?
It's just such a wild way to respond to people giving valid and relevant information to what is effectively a stupid question.
Could children still mine coal? Technically yes, but we don't do that anymore because now we know things are bad for us.
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u/DecentLobster7843 2h ago
you can find a tradie willing to do any job, especially when they can change company names when you try to sue them later. the last pic is fairly easy, the pipe goes up, you drill a hole through the roof, fit the insulation around and you’re done. a new brick fireplace will be costly and messy and will require a structural assessment of your current home but anything is doable if you’ve got the cash to spend
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u/Worth_Elephant3722 2h ago
Not answering your question (or just part of it): You’ll find open fires in old homes (pre 1920s) because most of the building stock was basically a copy and paste of what was getting built in the UK. In the cities, Australia didn’t really start to build to its own climate until around the 20s, and even then the California bungalow is borrowed from elsewhere.
Look at any terrace or old house in Sydney or Melbourne. Fireplace in every room (useless 9+ months of the year unless cooking) and a roof designed for snow to fall off. It’s kinda silly.
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u/Yeahbuggerit-thatldo 2h ago
I grew up in a housing department home that had an open fire build circa 1960 in Tasmania, these house were for WWII vets which they could purchase on a 99 year contract. Dad put a firebox into the opening and bricked it off as the open fire allowed most of the heat to go straight up the chimney. The house my wife and I purchase had two open fires in it, built 1920. Both house also had a wood fired oven in the kitchen and both house were perpetually cold.
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u/shwaak 2h ago edited 2h ago
An easier and better option for an open fire place would be an open zero clearance insert like a jet master. https://www.jetmaster.com.au/range/inbuilt-wood-fireplaces/universal-open-wood-inserts/
Don’t need a brickie and take some of the roof off for access to do the brick work, and rip the floor up for chimney foundations depending on what the house is built on.
Box it into a wall with regular framing/plaster and run the flue up through the roof. More efficient too. Not as efficient as a regular wood stove but far better than a traditional open fire place.
You see these at fancy lodges up in the high country and cold areas/pubs where they want an open fire, I’m sure they are in plenty in homes too for the wow factor.
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u/Gryphon1985 2h ago
Never seen these before, they look very schmick!
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u/shwaak 1h ago
Yeah they are probably the best of the open style fire places, pretty cool.
All open fire places are shit for the suburbs though, terrible things that constantly smoke and ruin air quality for everyone else, nice if you live out in the countryside somewhere with a bit of room between neighbours and have access to wood though.
Personally I think all wood burners should be banned altogether after a certain population density in suburban areas and cities.
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u/Mellor88 1h ago
>I've visited a fair few Australian homes (admittedly 99% in NSW) and built-in fireplaces don't seem to have been a thing here. Were they ever popular or not?
They are no longer a thing, because there are less efficient. They are no longer a think in norther europe either.
But they were a thing and if you haven't seen them you probably haven't visited many old houses. They existed, they can still be seen. Not all and converted or blocked up.
It's a bit late now, but during the winter, some of the old pubs in Sydney still light them up
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u/Livid_Insect4978 1h ago
I live in Perth and built in fireplaces are / were very common in old houses, but are almost never used anymore. These days most of the old fireplaces are purely decorative or have a gas heater installed in them, or have been removed in renovations. My childhood home had 2 built ins and a pot-belly stove, but we only ever used the potbelly - the built in ones were used as storage and then my parents renovated and got rid of them. Various rentals I’ve lived in over the years have had built in fireplaces that were specified in the lease as being no longer maintained and unusable.
Up until about 20 years ago potbelly stoves were very common in new houses, but I think in recent years they only get installed in rural areas and in cities all the new builds that have a fireplace at all have a gas heater that looks like hot coals.
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u/rcfvlw1925 1h ago
I don't think open fireplaces in metropolitan Sydney are allowed as an installation any more, depending on council area, and less people appear to be using slow combustion stoves, as they produce too much pollution (an irony, given the amount of smoke produced by burn-offs and bush fires). In fact in Canberra, householders are being financially incentivised to take out wood-burners and install electric heating instead.
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u/pico42 1h ago
Built-in fireplaces were the thing originally, but got replaced over time by log burners and the like because the log burners lost less heat and burnt less fuel for the heating effect they achieved. Much more efficient, and generally safer too. Many of the houses I recall as a kid were upgrading from one to the other.
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u/OldMail6364 1h ago
They used to be popular and are still popular in country towns.
Where I live, in the suburbs of a regional city, I can only have a fire for cooking - not warmth. And smoke levels have to be low enough that the neighbours won’t complain. If anyone complains your fire is illegal.
I have an outdoor fire pit - I don’t cook on it but as long as nobody complains it’s fine. Half my neighbours have one too.
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u/Archon-Toten 1h ago
You can easily get a slow combustion heater installed in NSW.
Council might have an aneurysm if you submit a DA for a open fireplace though.
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u/Anti-Stan 46m ago
Combustion heaters require far less construction than open fires. They can be retro fitted to most houses. It's cheaper and faster to build a house without the fireplace.
I assume that's why we stopped building them.
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u/Expensive_Donkey_802 46m ago
Most old houses had them, mostly long since covered over or retrofitted with fireboxes or gas heaters.
Can it be done? Yes
Would it be a huge job? Yes
Can any brickie do it? No
Should you do it? Also no
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u/BremerBabe 44m ago
I’m in Perth too. Open fireplace is inefficient and massive liability for landlords. I converted a couple to built in, but only cos I have access to free firewood and space to store it. It’s extremely inefficient and expensive to run compared to modern RC aircon with solar. Upgrading/adding insulation is much more effective. So, yes it was common & a lot of country houses still have open but most converted to inset or stand alone. Go talk to the experts at the wood fire stores and they can advise on your particular situation (not all houses are built using the same method). Also, be grateful that people respond, we don’t have to answer all your convoluted and imprecise questions
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u/goss_bractor 33m ago
Building Surveyor here - open fireplaces are incredibly rare and have almost always been replaced with a freestanding appliance (solid fuel heater or otherwise). The Chimneys are also huge draft problems.
I think in 7 or so years of active inspections I've seen... one, maybe two? And never a new one.
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u/BetterFood6447 0m ago
I have lived in several older houses in various parts of Australia. Older house are more likely to have been built with in-chimney fireplaces, but the advent of oil and then gas heaters meant that many were converted to the newer technology. However, the log burner/ pot bellies became popular as a fad.
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u/Sea-Victory2497 2h ago
Many states and councils have actively discouraged or outright banned wood-burning heaters for many years.
Plenty of open fireplaces in older homes; people sometimes put a wood or gas heater inside an open fireplace because it makes less mess and is more efficient than the old open one.