Dear PoP – Fireplaces, Gas or Wood?

“Dear PoP,

There is something about fireplaces and old, turn-of-the-century homes. We have recently opened the one that was bricked in the dining room of our house and received an estimate from ‘Priddy Clean’ on what it would cost to fix up the chimney to make this one work and also to fix up the second chimney to put an additional fireplace in our master bedroom. We need help with some choices and deciding on whether estimates are reasonable:

1) we were quoted $3.5k and $3k so $6.5k total for two chimneys. is that inline with market pricing (you have to pay between $50 and $100 for each estimate so getting several isn’t as appealing as in case with other contractors)

2) now the exciting part due to necessary chimney work- we can apparently have either wood or gas. So we are thinking wood in dining room and gas in the bedroom (cause its so nice to wake up and turn on the fire!)”

It’s funny you mention ‘Priddy Clean’ as they came up a few times when another reader asked about a chimney sweep. I remember when I had to have my chimney fixed years ago (nearly totally rebuilt from the roof line up) it cost around $4,000 (sadly I can’t remember who did the work). Anyone else have major chimney work done – do the prices above seem reasonable?

And I’m also very curious what you’d recommend with the wood for one and gas for the other. Personally, I’d vote wood for both. I just love the way the wood smells and crackles, that’s part of the joy for me. What do you guys think?