Our 83 year old house has a brick chimney covered up with drywall. We have no idea where the original flu was, but it must have vented a wood stove because there is no structure for a fireplace.

We want to install a zero-clearance wood-burning fireplace. The best place (to our mind) would be in the livingroom, which means that it would squeeze into a corner of the livingroom, with a doorway on either side of the hearth. I know we will have to install an insulated chimney liner esp. since there is combustible material against the chimney. Our rough plan is to place a lightweight floor protector, rather than a stone hearth, so the floor can bear the weight. Because we cannot stick the stove "into" the wall because there is no fireplace opening, the new fireplace vent would have to bend into the chimney at some point, and we would have to cut a hole into the brick chimney for the flu. Also, the fireplace will "stick out" into the room, so we will have to make a mantel/hearth around it that will basically eat up 1/6th of the livingroom.

I'm a novice at this and am sure I've missed some details. Any advice or suggestions? Is it possible to cut through the brick? Is bending the vent pipe a good idea? Will the chimney still be a fire hazard even with insulated liner?

Our other option is to wait, and build a new chimney/fireplace into a one-room extension we plan to add to our two-story house. But everything I've read says never to do that... and that chimneys on exterior walls cause poor air flow.

Our 83 year old house has a brick chimney covered up with drywall. We have no idea where the original flue was, but it must have vented a wood stove because there is no structure for a fireplace.

We want to install a zero-clearance wood-burning fireplace. The best place (to our mind) would be in the living room, which means that it would squeeze into a corner of the living room, with a doorway on either side of the hearth. I know we will have to install an insulated chimney liner esp. since there is combustible material against the chimney. Our rough plan is to place a lightweight floor protector, rather than a stone hearth, so the floor can bear the weight. Because we cannot stick the stove "into" the wall because there is no fireplace opening, the new fireplace vent would have to bend into the chimney at some point, and we would have to cut a hole into the brick chimney for the flu. Also, the fireplace will "stick out" into the room, so we will have to make a mantel/hearth around it that will basically eat up 1/6th of the living room.

I'm a novice at this, and am sure I've missed some details. Any advice or suggestions? 

Is it possible to cut through the brick? 

Is bending the vent pipe a good idea? 

Will the chimney be a fire hazard even with insulated liner?

Our other option is to wait, and build a new chimney/fireplace into a one-room extension we plan to add to our two-story house. But everything I've read says never to do that... and that chimneys on exterior walls cause poor air flow.

Our 83 year old house has a brick chimney covered up with drywall. We have no idea where the original flu was, but it must have vented a wood stove because there is no structure for a fireplace.

We want to install a zero-clearance wood-burning fireplace. The best place (to our mind) would be in the livingroom, which means that it would squeeze into a corner of the livingroom, with a doorway on either side of the hearth. I know we will have to install an insulated chimney liner esp. since there is combustible material against the chimney. Our rough plan is to place a lightweight floor protector, rather than a stone hearth, so the floor can bear the weight. Because we cannot stick the stove "into" the wall because there is no fireplace opening, the new fireplace vent would have to bend into the chimney at some point, and we would have to cut a hole into the brick chimney for the flu. Also, the fireplace will "stick out" into the room, so we will have to make a mantel/hearth around it that will basically eat up 1/6th of the livingroom.

I'm a novice at this and am sure I've missed some details. Any advice or suggestions? Is it possible to cut through the brick? Is bending the vent pipe a good idea? Will the chimney still be a fire hazard even with insulated liner?

Our other option is to wait, and build a new chimney/fireplace into a one-room extension we plan to add to our two-story house. But everything I've read says never to do that... and that chimneys on exterior walls cause poor air flow.

Thanks for any help!

Our 83 year old house has a brick chimney covered up with drywall. We have no idea where the original flu was, but it must have vented a wood stove because there is no structure for a fireplace.

We want to install a zero-clearance wood-burning fireplace. The best place (to our mind) would be in the livingroom, which means that it would squeeze into a corner of the livingroom, with a doorway on either side of the hearth. I know we will have to install an insulated chimney liner esp. since there is combustible material against the chimney. Our rough plan is to place a lightweight floor protector, rather than a stone hearth, so the floor can bear the weight. Because we cannot stick the stove "into" the wall because there is no fireplace opening, the new fireplace vent would have to bend into the chimney at some point, and we would have to cut a hole into the brick chimney for the flu. Also, the fireplace will "stick out" into the room, so we will have to make a mantel/hearth around it that will basically eat up 1/6th of the livingroom.

I'm a novice at this and am sure I've missed some details. Any advice or suggestions? Is it possible to cut through the brick? Is bending the vent pipe a good idea? Will the chimney still be a fire hazard even with insulated liner?

Our other option is to wait, and build a new chimney/fireplace into a one-room extension we plan to add to our two-story house. But everything I've read says never to do that... and that chimneys on exterior walls cause poor air flow.