Home / Services / Gas Fireplace Installation & Service
Heating · Gas AppliancesGas Fireplace Installation & Service
Gas fireplace installation is gas-fitting and venting work before it is a decorating decision. We quote the parts that need a TSSA licence — the gas line, the vent run and terminal, the appliance connection and the commissioning — and we service existing units that have stopped lighting or gone sooty.
Three kinds of gas fireplace turn up in houses around here. An insert slides into an existing masonry firebox and vents up through the old chimney with a liner, which is the common upgrade in the 1960s and 70s houses around Roseland and Tyandaga where the wood fireplace has not been lit in a decade. A zero-clearance direct-vent unit is framed into a wall and vents horizontally or vertically through a coaxial pipe, which is what goes into additions and basement renovations. And a natural-draft unit venting into an open chimney is what we most often find when someone calls because their old fireplace will not stay lit.
Direct-vent is what we quote for anything new. The coaxial pipe draws combustion air from outside through the outer sleeve and pushes exhaust out the inner one, so the appliance is sealed from the room and cannot be starved or reversed by a bathroom fan or a range hood. Vent-free room heaters are not something we install; every unit we quote is vented outside. The trade-off with direct-vent is that the terminal location is fixed by the manufacturer's clearances — so many centimetres from a window that opens, from a soffit, from a gas meter, and above expected snow level. That last one matters on the lake side of Burlington and Bronte, where a sidewall terminal set low on a north wall can be buried by a single lake-effect snowfall.
Service calls divide neatly. Millivolt units — the ones with a standing pilot and no electrical connection — usually fail at the thermopile: it weakens with age until it can no longer hold the gas valve open, so the pilot lights, the fireplace runs for a while, then quits and will not restart until it cools. Electronic-ignition units fail at the igniter, the flame-sense circuit or the control module. Sooty glass and yellow, lazy flames almost always come down to the logs having been put back in the wrong position after a cleaning, because the burner ports are aimed to miss them.
Framing, mantels, stonework and finishing are a carpenter's and mason's work; we handle the appliance, the gas and the venting, and we are straightforward about where our part starts and stops. A fireplace is supplementary heat rather than a heating system, so our heating services cover the appliance that actually carries the house on a −15°C night. If you are running new gas anyway, our gas line installation page covers BBQ, stove and garage runs on the same visit. To have a fireplace looked at or a new one quoted, get in touch.
Call for fireplace service when
- The pilot lights but the main burner will not come on, or it shuts off after twenty minutes
- The glass is filming over grey or black within a few hours of running
- Flames are tall, yellow and lazy rather than blue at the base
- There is a smell of exhaust in the room, or condensation and soot around the vent terminal
- The remote or wall switch does nothing and the unit has not been serviced in several years
How it works
We look at where the unit will sit, where the vent can legally terminate, whether the gas line has capacity for another appliance, and what the existing chimney can and cannot be used for.
Line run and pressure-tested, vent assembled to the manufacturer's clearances, appliance set and connected, then fired and adjusted — manifold pressure checked, flame pattern set, glass gasket seated correctly.
Burner and pilot assembly cleaned, thermopile output measured, logs and embers repositioned to the manufacturer's diagram, glass and gasket inspected, fan kit cleaned, and a combustion and spillage check before we leave.
Common questions
Can I convert my wood fireplace to gas?
Usually, with an insert and a liner sized to the appliance running up the existing chimney. What decides it is the firebox opening dimensions, the condition and size of the flue, and whether gas can be brought to the hearth cleanly. We measure all three before quoting rather than after.
Does a gas fireplace need a chimney?
A direct-vent unit does not — it uses its own sealed coaxial pipe and can terminate through a sidewall, which is why it goes into basements and additions where no chimney exists. An insert into an existing masonry fireplace uses the chimney as a chase for its liner, not as an open flue.
How often should it be serviced?
Once a year for a unit used through the heating season, and before first use each fall for one that sits idle. Spiders and dust in the pilot assembly are the single most common reason a fireplace that worked in March will not light in November.
Is a gas fireplace a real heat source or just a look?
It depends entirely on the unit. A sealed direct-vent fireplace with a fan kit will genuinely heat the room it is in and is useful during an outage if it has a millivolt valve that does not need power. A decorative unit with a large glass opening and low output is exactly what it looks like. We will tell you which one you are buying.
What if I smell gas near the fireplace?
Leave the house, do not touch switches, and call from outside — the steps are in what to do if you smell gas. It is also a good moment to check the age of your carbon monoxide alarms, because a fireplace is exactly the kind of appliance they are there to watch.