Fireplace Guard

[country345]

Hi, I love this forum! There is so much great information and ideas. Looking forward to posting more, and sharing. I have a question, I just recently got a gas fireplace. My regulations state this:

Fireplaces and woodburning and coalburning stoves.

Fireplaces, fireplace inserts and woodburning or coalburning stoves, if allowed by local ordinance, shall be securely screened or equipped with protective guards while in use.

What do you ladies that have fireplaces use for a protective guard? Thanks in advance.

[e.j.]

We have glass doors on our fireplace. They don't lock but we also don't use the fireplace during day care hours. So far, my licensors (I've had several different ones through the years) seem to be okay with that. Our hearth is flat so we don't need any additional protection like for some that are raised.

[Unregistered]

fireplace guard

In our house we have a rised hearth(1 1/2 bricks high) the fireplace has nesh curtains and glass doors. I also have in front of, wrapped around the bricks two fireplace screens from Target...they overlap in the front. These are sometimes wedged into place further by a lg. footstool.We do use our firplace during work hours the kids like it....we have cooked in it and of course s'mores and just marshmellows.This system seems to make any falls agaisnt the screens more of a graze than an actual hurt from them. thanks all.

[SignMeUp]

I have no clue what you should use, but just an observation from my limited experience: A toddler who used to come to my childcare burned the entire palm of his hand, and parts of his fingers, on a glass fireplace door.
Apparently he went to a friend's house - they had turned off the gas fireplace, but the glass remains hot for quite a while. He ran right up to it and leaned with his hands - one on the wood, one on the glass. It was a very serious burn.

[country345]

Thanks ladies. It is very hard to come up with a solution. My gas fireplace is never used when the dck's are here, but it still needs a protective barrier. It still has the pilot light lit at all times so we can use it in the evening when the dck's leave. My fireplace has a bay shape front with a wire mesh closure. The dck's could open the mesh right up. I got a fireplace screen, but my fireplace is small, and it doesn't fit right, plus if they were to take a hold of it they could pull it right down because it does not secure. Looking for suggestions. I came across this, but it is expensive:

http://smile.amazon.com/Best-Choice-Products%C2%AE-Fireplace-Plastic/dp/B00KIY1R6O/ref=pd_sim_ba_8?ie=UTF8&refRID=00VW0ECX10HVQ7P8Z24Z

[Play Care]

Thanks ladies. It is very hard to come up with a solution. My gas fireplace is never used when the dck's are here, but it still needs a protective barrier. It still has the pilot light lit at all times so we can use it in the evening when the dck's leave. My fireplace has a bay shape front with a wire mesh closure. The dck's could open the mesh right up. I got a fireplace screen, but my fireplace is small, and it doesn't fit right, plus if they were to take a hold of it they could pull it right down because it does not secure. Looking for suggestions. I came across this, but it is expensive:

http://smile.amazon.com/Best-Choice-...CX10HVQ7P8Z24Z

I have this, though I believe I purchased it through the Safety 1st catalog years ago. I actually need to replace mine now but it's held up for 8-10 years. I do use my fireplace during day care because the family room gets cold. We turn off the pilot light in the summer and I take down the gate then (legal in my state) I do wish it didn't come out quite so far, as we don't have a hearth to accommodate, but as you have seen there are not many options out there.

[country345]

I have this, though I believe I purchased it through the Safety 1st catalog years ago. I actually need to replace mine now but it's held up for 8-10 years. I do use my fireplace during day care because the family room gets cold. We turn off the pilot light in the summer and I take down the gate then (legal in my state) I do wish it didn't come out quite so far, as we don't have a hearth to accommodate, but as you have seen there are not many options out there.

Thanks for your reply Play Care. I was wondering how far it comes out. Like I said our fireplace is small, but it does have a hearth. I have the fireplace in the living, and the room is small also, I hate to have more room taken away. Did you secure yours to the wall on each side of the fireplace? I don't want to have to screw into my wainscoting. I wonder if those sticky things would work to secure it? I turn my pilot light off in the summer also.

[earlystart]

For regulation purposes, you'll notice it says when it's in USE. But for your own piece of mind for the pilot light, the stand-alone fireplace screens are good (that's what I used even though I had the mesh curtains already, and my inspector was fine with that solution). I used: this one. You can fold the edges to make it wider or narrower. Or if a flat single panel would fit better, something like this might work. I also added the foam bumpers to my brick hearth.

[country345]

Just a update: I called and asked my licensor about the regulation. Letting him know I do not use the fireplace during dc hours, but that the pilot light is lit at all times. I told him I bought a fireplace screen for in front of it. He said that the screen is not good enough for protection, that I have to get something to completely surround it. So I guess I will be buying the one I posted the link for. Thanks again everyone.

[Play Care]

Just a update: I called and asked my licensor about the regulation. Letting him know I do not use the fireplace during dc hours, but that the pilot light is lit at all times. I told him I bought a fireplace screen for in front of it. He said that the screen is not good enough for protection, that I have to get something to completely surround it. So I guess I will be buying the one I posted the link for. Thanks again everyone.

We didn't even consider a screen when we bought ours. I didn't want anything that could possibly be moved by the children or knocked over, etc. I don't think a moveable screen would have passed my inspection either.

[e.j.]

I have no clue what you should use, but just an observation from my limited experience: A toddler who used to come to my childcare burned the entire palm of his hand, and parts of his fingers, on a glass fireplace door.
Apparently he went to a friend's house - they had turned off the gas fireplace, but the glass remains hot for quite a while. He ran right up to it and leaned with his hands - one on the wood, one on the glass. It was a very serious burn.

Just a update: I called and asked my licensor about the regulation. Letting him know I do not use the fireplace during dc hours, but that the pilot light is lit at all times. I told him I bought a fireplace screen for in front of it. He said that the screen is not good enough for protection, that I have to get something to completely surround it. So I guess I will be buying the one I posted the link for. Thanks again everyone.

Oops! Just wanted to add that when I posted my reply, somehow I hadn't picked up on the fact that you had a gas fireplace. Ours is just a regular, wood burning fireplace and is very deep. The glass doors are open when the fireplace is being used so they stay cool to the touch and by morning, when the kids are here, it's definitely not a burn hazard. I've never had a gas fireplace but can see that any safety precautions might be different from a wood burning one. Sorry for the misunderstanding.