ORIGINAL REDDIT POST
Can a fireplace like this be re-opened up?
This flipped house it pretty much perfect except I'm really mad they closed up the fireplace. Anyone recognize exactly what they did here, should I hire or DIY to try and get this returned to an operational state? Opinions very welcome. Photo:…
This flipped house it pretty much perfect except I'm really mad they closed up the fireplace. Anyone recognize exactly what they did here, should I hire or DIY to try and get this returned to an operational state? Opinions very welcome. Photo: https://imgur.com/a/aWzWH74
Collected discussion
It looks like it was painted, but I can't tell that it was actually closed up? In any case, the fireplace is probably the easy part. Assessing the state of the chimney and addressing the deficienciesbis probably the hard one. Often fireplaces are taken out of service because people decide the chimney work is too expensive. Unfortunately it seems like a lot of chimney/fireplace repair companies are kind of predatory and will try to sell you $30k of work when $3k would get you a safe, functional system.
Does the chimney still exist? Check your city/county/state requirements. In ours, we were not able to make a wood burning fireplace (needs permits), but could do gas.
Looks more sealed with paint or board than fully removed. Bigger job is the chimney liner and local code for gas vs wood. I'd get a chimney sweep to scope it before deciding DIY.