Fireplace death trap?

[IwishLifeWasDull]

Hi, I think a fireplace in a house we are looking at is a death trap. The vendor said it's been there since before they moved in (1975). It's gas powered. Looks super old. I'd be scared to touch it let alone use it. I'm Pretty sure the specialist will say it's a death trap / fire trap and advise immediate removal.

Has anyone had experienced with this? I would want it removed immediately.

How much will it cost? What does it involved? What damage will be left?

Thanks in advance

It's just a gas fire? It's very easy to make it safe.
Call out a heating engineer or plumber that is gas safe registered. They will cut the gas supply for you and cap it off.
Then you can remove the gas fire when you are ready.

What ^glitter said. I had one in an old home and just had a gas engineer cap off the gas to isolate the gas fireplace. I didn’t remove it as that would have damaged the 1890s art deco tile surround which I loved.

Post some photos.

It might be a Baxi Bermuda or similar, which is a gas fire with a gas boiler behind it. They are generally not well thought of now and some spares seem unobtainable.

It is unlikely to kill you if you turn it off. A gas fire is easy to disconnect and fairly easy to remove. If you need a new boiler, put it in a corner of the kitchen.

Why would it be a death trap? Gas fires are very common, even old ones from the 1970s. My parents still have one they put in in the 70s.

Have you asked when it was last serviced? It would normally be done at the same time as the gas boiler or make be a back boiler? I certainly wouldn't consider it a deal breaker. As mentioned worse case scenario they can cap the has to it.

You could ask some gas engineers for some prices. Then you could leave a gap and make it look tidy or fit a new fire , like either gas , electric or a log burner. There are tradespeople who can provide prices and carry out the work.

Or do you mean removing the entire chimney breast, which is a much bigger and expensive job?

Mine was condemned shortly after we moved in despite it had a gas safety certificate from the previous owners. Ours was a open gas fire basket which looked old. I decided to get a gas and heating engineer out to check it and it failed on two things - the copper gas pipe was embedded in concrete on the hearth and the flue in the chimney needed replacing. We got the pipe capped and ripped out the gas fire. We replaced with an log burner style electric fire. If you're in doubt, get the gas safe engineer out to check.

Super easy to remove. We had an old gas fire in one of the bedrooms when we bought our house. We had never switched it on.

The first heating engineer who came round our house for a quote took one look at it and condmened it - he capped it off there and then in about five mins and didn't even charge us, bless him!

We could then remove it ourselves - it was just screwed into the wall.

We have one of those - an open basket with individual pieces of fake coal and an open chimney. Must be at least 35 years old possibly a lot more. We still use it sometimes. Sounds similar to @ALT72

You don't have to use it and can have it capped off, removed if you wish. If you'd like a replacement, have a look at some fireplace shops - they might not be the cheapest, but you'll get an idea of how much a replacement would be and they'll be able to give you a rough idea of fitting, surround etc.

We had ours removed and supply capped a day after we moved in. Cost £75 in the NW last year.