Old fireplace sitting cold, or no fireplace at all? We fit a gas insert or direct-vent unit, sized and vented for your house.
Fireplace installation in Rancho Cucamonga usually means one of two jobs. One is fitting a gas insert inside the fireplace you already have. The other is adding a new gas fireplace to a room that doesn't have one. Most people want it for the look and some extra warmth on a cool night, not as the main heat for the house.
At P&J Rancho Cucamonga Concrete & Masonry, the first thing I talk through with you is the type of unit. A direct-vent fireplace sends its exhaust out through a pipe in the wall or roof, so you don't need a masonry chimney. An insert sits inside your firebox, the opening where the fire burns, and reuses the chimney with a new liner run up through it. That means a house with no chimney can still have a gas fireplace, and a house with a chimney nobody uses can put it back to work. You'll also see vent-free gas logs that need no outside venting, but the EPA doesn't support those because of indoor air quality concerns.
The price and the schedule both turn on how much building the job needs. Dropping an insert into a sound fireplace is the simpler job. A new fireplace brings framing, venting and a surround to build, and the timing also depends on what the city asks for before work can start. Before we start, we check what your city asks for on your kind of job, and when a permit is needed, we handle the application and line up the inspections. My written estimate puts a figure on your job, so you're not guessing.
Here's who you'll deal with from the first visit to the finished job, so nothing comes as a surprise.
I come out myself, look at your fireplace and chimney with you, and answer whatever you want to ask. I'd rather you understand your own fireplace before you spend money on it, so the written estimate spells out which unit fits and why.
We're licensed and insured. I started this business in Rancho Cucamonga in 2023, after years of selling brick, block and stone to masons here and learning the trade by working alongside one of them.
I run the work on site with our crew, and an experienced mason leads the brick and stone work around your fireplace. When it's done, we walk the finished job with you before we leave, and our work is satisfaction guaranteed. Call (909) 360-4010 or use the form below to set up a visit.
We start by finding out whether your fireplace is masonry or factory built, since that limits which inserts can go in, and we'll have the chimney looked over before a new unit goes in. From there we fit the insert and its liner, or build out for a direct-vent unit and its vent. Then we finish the brick, block or stone around it so the new fireplace looks like part of the room, and we clean up as we go.
A new fireplace often brings other masonry with it. If you'd like the surround or a whole wall faced in stone, that's our stone veneer installation work. A raised hearth or a chase, the boxed-out column that carries the vent, uses the same block work as our concrete block walls.
Once you've picked the unit, this is the order we work in, and why each step comes where it does.
We measure the firebox, the chimney and the space around them before anything is ordered. A unit that doesn't fit the opening or the vent route means starting over.
The Chimney Safety Institute of America recommends a Level Two inspection, a more thorough look than a routine check, when you add a new appliance or switch to one with a different fuel, efficiency or type. If you're going from wood to gas, plan that inspection into the project so anything it turns up gets fixed before the new unit goes in.
We set the insert and run its new liner up the chimney, or set the direct-vent unit and take its pipe out through the wall or roof. The maker's installation instructions set the clearances and the vent route, so we work to them on every unit.
Before the room goes back to normal, we light the unit and watch it run, so you can see how it starts and shuts off. One gas fireplace maker strongly recommends a carbon monoxide alarm wherever gas appliances are in use, so if there isn't one near the room, it's worth adding one.
Tell us about your fireplace, or the room you'd like one in, and we'll reply within one business day. I'll come out, look at it with you, answer your questions and send a free written estimate, and there's no obligation to go ahead. If you'd rather talk now, call (909) 360-4010.
(909) 360-4010Across the US, installing a gas fireplace usually costs about $2,500 to $10,000 per job, and that's a national figure, not a quote for your house. The most common job, a gas insert going into an existing fireplace, costs less than a new direct-vent fireplace, so where you land depends mostly on which of those you need. Your estimate gives you the figure for your own job.
Going by national figures, most fireplace projects take one to three days, and an insert going into a sound existing fireplace sits at the short end of that. New framing, venting and surround work stretch the schedule, so a new fireplace needs more planning time before work starts.
No. EPA guidance says a factory-built, or zero-clearance, fireplace has to use an insert that was designed and tested for that unit. One maker's insert manual also says a factory-built wood-burning fireplace modified for its gas insert can't go back to burning wood, so settle that question before the work starts.
Some will. A unit with a standing pilot, a small flame that stays lit, and a millivolt valve keeps working with no electricity, while electronic ignition models need power, though many offer a battery backup. Either way the blower stops, so you'll get radiant heat only until the power comes back.
In Rancho Cucamonga, the city's Building and Safety Department handles permits entirely online and issues none over the counter, with applications going through its Online Permit Center. We do the applying, and if you have a quick permit question of your own, the department takes texts at (909) 488-4668.
We're based in Rancho Cucamonga and work across the cities around it, including Upland, Ontario, Fontana, Chino and more. If your city isn't listed, ask us. Around here we see everything from older brick fireplaces that haven't been lit in years to newer homes built with factory-built units, which is why that first look matters.
A couple of photos, and whether you think it's masonry or factory built, let me come out ready with the right questions, so call (909) 360-4010 or send them through our contact form.
If you're still deciding between an insert and a new fireplace, I'm glad to talk it through with you.
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