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Old 07-31-2009, 09:57 AM
 
Location: Boca Raton, FL
9 posts, read 40,184 times
Reputation: 16

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My husband and I are looking to purchase a home built in the 1880s in upstate New York (around the Finger Lakes). Its very quaint and has 1700+ sq. ft. We just think it's odd that it doesn't have a fireplace. Almost making it seem unappealing. I mean what's the purpose of the character of an old home if you don't have something as traditional as a fireplace? Also the floor is covered in laminate flooring. When we asked..the owners told our realtor that the wood underneath was unsalvageable. Should we be concerned? We want this property as a second home to stay in the family for a long time...maybe pass on to our children. Love the Finger Lakes and perhaps this missing fireplace is a common thing with older homes in the area?? We have no clue...Would love some advice!
Thanks!
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Old 07-31-2009, 10:02 AM
 
3,805 posts, read 6,327,686 times
Reputation: 7860
Perhaps some lame-brained previous owner bricked it up. Seems there had to have been one if it was built in the 1880's. Check the most logical wall in the living room to see if it was bricked up or covered over in some way.
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Old 07-31-2009, 10:14 AM
 
7,079 posts, read 37,841,161 times
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It could have had a freestanding stove for heat - like a Franklin stove.
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Old 07-31-2009, 01:16 PM
 
474 posts, read 1,743,180 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sayulita View Post
Perhaps some lame-brained previous owner bricked it up. Seems there had to have been one if it was built in the 1880's. Check the most logical wall in the living room to see if it was bricked up or covered over in some way.
That would be my guess as well. Once a modern heating system went in, they bricked it over to reduce the drafts coming in / out from the non-used fireplace. Is there a chimney on the house?
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Old 07-31-2009, 02:26 PM
 
119 posts, read 427,466 times
Reputation: 59
Our current house is from 1850, no fireplace. There probably is a bricked over one, but the walls were covered with pine, so it's hard to tell. Our last house had one bricked over, with the mantle removed. We could only tell when we painted over the 1950"s wallpaper! (could not get it off)
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Old 07-31-2009, 03:28 PM
 
4,277 posts, read 11,711,042 times
Reputation: 3931
I once had a home supposedly built in 1840 (might really have been 1880) that had been renovated in the 1970's with new block chimney from the oil boiler. That wasn't so bad but they had removed major structural supports to open up the floor plan - had dug out the cellar and poured concrete on the floor but it was unreinforced and the center column of the whole house punched through when we moved stuff into the wrong room. Made things interesting.
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Old 08-05-2009, 09:03 PM
 
Location: NY
417 posts, read 1,885,883 times
Reputation: 440
Brick was expensive. Many older houses had a brick chimney that only came down to just above where the cook/heating stove was, and was supported by wood, which was cheap, from there down. Often this would cause the part of the house with the chimney/stove to sag and the wooden supports for the chimney would start to rot. Likely at some point in the past when heating and cooking alternatives became available the (relatively) unsupported chimney was removed.

Additionally, fireplaces may be quaint, but they are a terrible means of heating a space- in fact they often actually suck heat out of the house leaving the only warm place that which is radiantly heated directly in front of the fire. Install a modern, stainless chimney and efficient wood stove- ceramic technology is advanced enough that you can have a nice big window in the stove so you'll get the visual appeal along with efficient, renewable heat. Some stoves even have a removable front door if you really want that open-flame effect, but then you're just wasting heat like a fireplace.
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Old 08-06-2009, 07:48 AM
 
Location: amsterdam ny
155 posts, read 847,192 times
Reputation: 75
I know this is a bit off-topic, but I can't stand to see the endless new developments with pvc or metal pipe vents sticking out of the rooftops. Alas no more brick chimneys, no need for skilled masons..ugly ass pipes are the modern chimney stacks now.
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