2017 Guide to Buying Fireplace Doors at Home Depot

Home Depot 2017 Fireplace Door Buying Guide

Susan Rawlings
Aug 8, 2017 · 6 min read

I originally wrote this guide back in 2014 and it is time for an update. To be honest not much has changed at Big Orange in regards to fireplace doors, but I have added alot of new information based on your questions and input. If you have questions, just put them in the comments below and I’ll respond.

For lots of people when the think Fireplace Doors — the first place that comes to mind is Big Orange — The Home Depot. Not a bad place to start, but I want to give you a few more ideas to explore before you make your final purchase.

In this guide I want to show you:

  • Why 50% of America’s fireplaces CANNOT use a fireplace door from Home Depot
  • An easy way to save $50 if you do have a prefab fireplace.
  • The #1 fit issue with HD Doors and a real life example
  • Who really has the best price on fireplace doors
  • 3 other masonry doors you ought to checkout before you buy your door at HD
  • Filters and sorts on www.homedepot.com to help you save time and money

What kind of fireplaces can use Home Depot Fireplace Doors?

Home Depot sells a brand of fireplace doors named Pleasant Hearth. They cannot be installed on a Prefab Fireplace. Here is a link to the Pleasant Hearth Manual (PDF) noting what type of fireplace their doors work on.

Step #1 Do you know what Kind of Fireplace Do you have?

There are two types of fireplaces. Masonry and Prefab (Zero Clearance). Masonry fireplaces have a brick firebox.

Most masonry doors are an overlap fit which makes for simple measuring and an easy install.

Prefab (zero clearance) fireplaces are made by companies like Heatilator, Superior, Majestic, FMI, Temco, Martin, Marco, and others. They typically have a metal facing with refractory panels in the firebox. Don’t confuse the panels for brick. The panels are made of a ceramic fiber and look a little like brick but aren’t. Most prefab fireplaces will also have a metal tag on the inside noting who made it and what model it is.

Prefab fireplaces require a precise inside fit. That means there can be 300+ different sizes and a lot of times custom doors are required. A precise fit is needed for proper ventilation to meet national safety codes.

It can be a little confusing because even though Home Depot doesn’t sell prefab doors they advertise prefab doors online:

At least Home Depot notes the door doesn’t work on prefab fireplaces in the product description.

If you have a prefab fireplace, you can stop reading now, but here are a couple of resources for you:

Home Depot’s Masonry Fireplace Doors

Home Depot can be a great place to get a masonry fireplace door. All of Home Depot’s fireplace doors are made by a brand called Pleasant Hearth located in Niles IL — Customer Service 877–447–4768. Home Depot carries 18 models of Pleasant Heart doors ranging in price from $206 — $720.

For the price Pleasant Hearth makes a very good quality door. They feature an overlap fit and come in 3 Sizes: Small — Medium — Large. If you are looking for an economical well built door then this can be a great solution.

Step #2 Measuring Your Fireplace

Before we start shopping we need to measure our fireplace. Here is a masonry fireplace measuring 40 3/4” x 25 1/2”.

Next go to the Pleasant Hearth size chart and see what size door will fit your fireplace. Based on the Pleasant Hearth size chart, we will need a “Large” Pleasant Hearth Door for this fireplace.

Be Careful if you are on the low side of the width or height.

One way Pleasant Hearth can offer such low prices is because they only make 3 sizes of doors. This means they can get some huge economies of scales when buying parts and the labor to put the doors together. But there are some trade offs when you only offer 3 sizes and one of them is a less than perfect fit. I’ll show you what I mean.

Remember our fireplace? (40 3/4 “x 25 1/2”)

The 251/2” Height is on the low end of the height openings. Notice the brick showing in the opening and the huge overlap on the top.

To some people the low price of the Pleasant Hearth doors is worth the imperfect fit, but for most fireplace shops this would be considered a very sloppy installation. However if your fireplace is on the upper end of the opening range you will get a very good fit and the PH door could be a great solution for you.

So if you have a masonry fireplace that falls within the range of acceptable pleasant hearth openings, now is the time to start shopping!

Step #3 Filter and Sort the main Home Depot Fireplace Door Page

The Home Depot main fireplace door page does not help the average shopper. You need to set some filters and resort.

Now that we have the page filtered by size and sorted by price we can start shopping. The first thing I like to do is compare pricing. This is not my primary criteria when purchasing products, but it is where I like to start.

Let’s compare Home Depot’s pricing on fireplace doors.

Amazon seems to be 2–11% lower. (HD and Amazon both charge sales tax and offer free shipping). There is also the random Ebay seller and online store with a low price and does not charge sales tax, but be careful of their return policies.

Pleasant Hearth is not the only company that makes doors for masonry fireplaces. You may want to compare Pleasant Hearth doors to other manufacturer’s masonry doors for a different look or a better fit. Below are some quality masonry doors along that you may want to consider.

So let’s wrap this up:

  • Home Depot — Great Pricing, Liberal Returns, Average Selection, Below Average Support
  • Be careful measuring your fireplace and understanding how the Pleasant Hearth Door will fit and be installed
  • Consider upgrading to a custom fit custom made door. It can be worth the extra $.
  • Go to www.brick-anew.com/blog/homedepot2017fireplacedoorupdate for all the links.

I’m sure I missed something. Please let me know what I missed or a question you may have in the comments below.

Thanks for reading!

SAM

    Susan Rawlings

    Written by

    Marketing Manager for Brick-Anew.com

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