The $200 Fix That May Save You Thousands When Building Your Dream Home
The allure of a gas fireplace can be seen in many homes from gas flames flickering around colored glass shards to an effective new addition on an outdated hearth.
If you’re building your dream home, you’ll probably want at least one fireplace inside. And if you want to avoid the mess, hassle and expense of wood heat you’ll choose a direct vent gas fireplace.
Here are some important things to consider.
75% of the fireplaces sold today are gas and what makes them so efficient is their direct vent technology.
By allowing gasses to escape directly outside without being able to pull any heat with them, direct vent fireplaces can be 85% more efficient.
Installing a direct vent gas fireplace is a pretty straight forward process for your builder. But, there is one aspect of these units that is not very pleasing. They are bland.
Their outer shell is black and simple with thin metal and glass that is not sleek or eye-catching.
Many homeowners choose to have a door made to go over the front that gives them the high-quality look they desire and the cozy feel of a real hearth.
It is also a safer option for families with kids and pets, so that no one can get too close to the fire.
In this whole process however, there is one problem that many homeowners end up paying the price for.
What if your door doesn’t fit?
Imagine your rockwork is complete, everything is installed, you go to place your custom door on the front and it doesn’t fit. Now, what are your options?
Your beautiful and specially made door is now useless unless you want to spend more money and time to tear up your mantle and fix the problem, or live with a boring front.
Here’s how to avoid that problem…
Ironhaus developed what we call a mason form that outlines, (or templates,) where the fireplace door will go. We use special steel tubing to create it so that it can be made in one day and shipped the next, to any construction site.
We’ve created a quick $200 solution to a costly problem that will help save your time and money. We want to make sure that the money and time you put into creating your handcrafted custom door isn’t wasted by adding on tons of extra expenses.
Below we’ve shared our experiences to show why this is so important to help reduce delays in your project, to support your mason and to keep the project as productive as possible.
1.) Partnering with your mason
Many homeowners have come to us and said that “the mason would put rock over the fireplace and [then] they are fighting with the mason and the builder [because] they can’t get a door on the fireplace.”
The mason form is called that because it is specifically designed to show masons where the doors will be. This enables them to adjust their tile, stone or rock work accordingly to fit perfectly when everything is complete.
2.) Keeping you on schedule
Builders say, “ ‘I’m going to avoid this [project] because I’m going to get behind on schedule and I can’t be behind.’ ”
To keep your project on schedule, your builder can install the gas fireplace at the same time as the mason form without having to wait four to six weeks for the door to arrive.
Having to wait for the blacksmiths to craft your product means that your mason has to wait as well, which holds up everyone.
Our template is easy to install and keeps everything running smoothly.
3.) Getting the right measurements
We would have “customers call in and say ‘I love your work’ it just was too hard to put a fireplace door on it.”
The blacksmiths at Ironhaus can help alleviate any worries of not having the right measurement for your door.
With the mason form, we build it based on your builder’s information so that we know the exact measurements including the size of the opening, width of the door and how far out to extend for the mason’s design.
We use all of this information to customize and style doors that will fit perfectly as well as, flow with your design.
You can choose from our different design styles including lifestyle, heritage or express that let you select the right texture, color, and handle for your home.
We are proud to say that there has “never been a question or a problem” with the measurements when the mason uses our form.
4.) Unique design
For years “we heard too many times…their builder hadn’t been thoughtful.”
We created this design to help guide your mason but when the door(s) are put on, no one will be able to see anything.
There will be no additional metal sticking out and it will not change the overall high-quality look that you want.
5.) Increasing productivity
We recall disappointed customers who weren’t able to use our doors, one in particular who “needed to have a door beforehand [and] by the time he realized that he needed to do something, it was too late” and he couldn’t wait four to six weeks for the door to be made.
So while the mason and builder are working on your project we can take the four to six weeks that we need to create your handcrafted product. Our goal is that “when the house is done the door is done.”
By the time the mason is done with the fireplace, you will be able to add the finishing touches to your home with a beautiful custom art piece.
6.) Protect your door
Over and over again we saw “someone who is building a home wait too long” to order their doors.
But if you order them too soon you can have problems as well.
If you have the entire fireplace installed first with the door there is the potential for something to happen at one point during the process. We recommend using the mason form process to help keep your door from being damaged during the construction of your fireplace.
Overall, the mason form is a solution that everyone can live with. It is more convenient for your builder, it guides your mason and it helps us provide you with an easy to install door that fits perfectly.
So instead of buying the custom fireplace doors that you want and then not being able to use them, have your builder and mason order a mason form to install and save you time, money and frustration.
Builders: If you would like to see how the mason form is installed to see if it is right for your project click this link DV-masons-form.pdf.
If you are interested in ordering a mason form for your direct vent gas fireplace please let us know [Contact Us] and we will work with you to make the experience as easy as possible.