Let’s face it. Not every project is perfect. Every remodel or building project will have little complexities that will need to be taken into account. One of these complexities is the fireplace location. Where you want to locate it in the design of the home, may not be the most practical place for it to be. Because of this, depending on where you want to locate a fireplace in your home, you may have a straight shot where you can place your chimney, or you may not.
If it happens that the location where you want your fireplace will not allow the chimney to go straight up, due to home design or some other impediment, do not fear. This is what an offset is for. An offset is an adjustment in the chimney that will allow it to angle and bend to where it needs to go. While FireRock fireplaces are able to offset products with both metal and masonry chimneys, there are a few things you should consider:
FireRock products can have two types of chimney, masonry and metal. FireRock’s masonry chimney is our most common and popular chimney, however, it is the more difficult of the two to offset. As we will discuss in the next section, metal chimneys can typically be offset more than their masonry counterparts. This can be extremely handy for especially complicated projects.
Metal chimneys can be offset more than masonry chimneys. So if you have an extreme offset, you will need to use metal. However, this does not mean that if you need any offset that you will always need a metal chimney! FireRock’s masonry offset blocks allow a chimney to be offset 2 5/8” per block. This will allow you to offset the chimney while ensuring a strong draw and appeal of a masonry chimney. One thing that is important to note is that due to the fact that these are masonry blocks, and hence very heavy, they must have a support, either block or I-beam, every 5 offset blocks. This is done to ensure the structural integrity of the chimney for years to come.
While metal chimneys can be offset more, to ensure the chimney maintains a solid draw they cannot be offset more than half of their height. That means, if you have 20 feet of chimney, you can, at the maximum, offset the chimney by 10 feet.
For more information on FireRock products and how they can fit into your current project or design call us at 888-876-1025. We have experienced product specialists who can answer any question you may have relating to indoor and outdoor design. To see how our product compares with Isokern, click here.
