Gas, wood or masonry: picking the right fireplace for a Richmond home

Every fireplace conversation in Richmond starts with the same question, and the honest answer depends less on taste than on your walls and your venting.

A traditional masonry firebox is the real thing: firebrick, a properly proportioned throat, and radiant heat that keeps working after the fire dies. It needs a footing that can carry the load.

Direct vent gas seals combustion behind glass and vents horizontally through an exterior wall. No chimney, no draft problems, and it lights with a switch — the practical retrofit for most homes here.

Wood-burning prefab gives you real fire at a fraction of full masonry cost, with a chase you can face in brick or stone so it reads as masonry from the street.

Electric installs anywhere there's an outlet. Little usable heat, but visually it does the job in a bedroom or a smaller room.

The surround is what you look at every day. Brick, natural stone, cast stone or tile — that's where a Richmond mason earns their keep.