LESLIE: Erlinda (sp) in Nevada, you’ve got The Money Pit. What can we do for you today?
ERLINDA (sp): I bought a house in Nevada, in Henderson. And slowly but surely, I have been plugging up all the areas where drafts were coming in. And then I realized – because I have a sofa in front of this fireplace, so a gas fireplace – there is a huge draft coming out that was just hitting my ankles. So, I would like to know what is it I can do to cover that draft. Do I have to cover up the whole fireplace? Is there – I have no idea what to do. I don’t use it.
TOM: Yeah. Well, you’ve got to have a damper. So, there’s lots of different types of dampers. You probably have a damper already. There could be a mechanical damper right above the firebox. There could be a flue damper up towards the top of the flue. Or you could just put glass doors on the fireplace. That’s another way to kind of slow down the drafts.
LESLIE: Yeah. But even with the glass doors, if that flue is open, you can still feel a little bit of a draft.
TOM: Right.
LESLIE: Because we have that and I notice that if I forget to close the flue, then I’m like, “Ooh. It’s time to close it.”
ERLINDA (sp): I will look to see about the damper, see if there’s anything I can close. But if I close that damper and I still have a draft and I do need to put a glass there – a glass cover – where do you find a glass cover? I never see them anywhere.
TOM: Well, glass doors – no, glass doors – glass fireplace doors – are widely available pretty much everywhere, so …
LESLIE: I mean we had ours done from the local hearth place. I believe it was called Hearth & Leisure. There’s probably somebody right in your area, right near Henderson. I know that area of Vegas and in Nevada and that’s a good spot. You probably have somebody there already that can do this for you.
And there’s so many choices and so many finishes and different designs on the glass and different framework and all different price ranges, as well. So don’t be surprised when some are really expensive. But it’s beautiful.
And it also – when you are running your gas fireplace, you can keep those closed. And it really does generate quite a lot of heat.
ERLINDA (sp): It does? I just didn’t think that they would. I have it blocked with my sofa. I don’t really use a fireplace at all.
LESLIE: Oh, my gosh. Gas fireplaces are so cozy.
ERLINDA (sp): Well, the real ones – see, I’m used to the real thing. That’s the difference.
LESLIE: No, I hear you. I’m all for a wood-burning fireplace. But our neighbors have a gas fireplace and any time we go visit them, just – it gets downright warm, in fact, hot in their living room. It’s lovely.
ERLINDA (sp): OK. I will try it.
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