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We recently removed (and, unfortunately, discarded) our fireplace door in hopes of getting something we liked better. Little did we know that our existing opening, at 28 inches wide, was abnormally small.

Wb bought a replacement a "small" fireplace door. The trouble is, the inset portion of the door is 28 1/2" wide. Doesn't fit so well. The way I see it, I have three options:

  1. Find a source for ready-made doors that will Just Fit. I'd love this one if I knew a source.
  2. Find someone, somewhere, who will make us a properly-fitting door. This sounds like an expensive prospect.
  3. Skip the door, just put a screen on it. We're in the frigid northlands, though, so having a door to keep my heat from zipping up our fireplace flue sounds like a nice thing.
  4. Get me a brick cutting wheel for my angle grinder and notch out enough brick so the door will fit properly. This makes a permanent change to the fireplace, so I'm a little hesitant. I mean, it'd be covered with the fireplace door, so maybe it's okay?

I've attached pictures (don't judge my measuring tape pics). The blue tape denotes where I'd need to cut, if I were gonna take the "cut it" route – that's about 1/2" on each side to give me a little wiggle room, and 3/4" deep to give the hinge some room.

Thoughts?

Fireplace opening Fireplace door inset part Taped lines

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  • If the damper associated with the handle above the middle of the fireplace works, your heat should not go up the chimney when the fireplace is not in use, so the simple screen should be fine on that basis.
    – Ecnerwal
    Dec 11, 2017 at 16:03
  • Hm, I was always under the impression that the flue damper would not seal or insulate particularly well? Mine does work.
    – Nate
    Dec 11, 2017 at 21:13

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Notching the front of the fireplace sounds like an acceptable solution to me. The brick will be soft. You may also need a little hammer and chisel work.

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