There are three main reasons for adding a glass door to your masonry fireplace safety, energy savings and beauty. 

Safety:  Glass doors keep small children and pets away from your fire so you can relax and enjoy yourself.

             They keep sparks in the fireplace where they belong. Not on your carpet.

             They keep a smoldering fire safe when you want to go to bed for the night so you can sleep

             without worry.

Energy Savings:    Glass doors reduce air lost up the chimney by 90%.  An open fireplace is like leaving a

              a door or a window open.  In the summer air conditioned air goes up the chimney.  In winter

              heated air goes up the chimney.  In either case that's your hard earned money disappearing.

              Glass doors minimize the heat lost and save you money.

Beauty:   The hearth is the main focus of any room. Glass firplace doors add elegance and enhance the

               appearance of your hearth whether it is built form rock, brick or marble.  

First you must determine what type of fireplace that you have. Masonry or factory-built.

Next you must decide on the style and the quality level of the door.  Glass doors are available in a wide range of styles and price ranges from the $150 doors found in home centers to solid brass barstock doors that can cost $4000 and more.  You need to determine how often you use the doors and how long you will be staying in the home. For anyone who uses the doors frequently or plans on being in the home more than a couple of years we recomend purchasing a better quality door.

The lower end doors are made from stamped steel sheet metal with a thin brass plating.  They often use 3/16" tempered glass and are generally lightweight and flimsy feeling.

The better quality doors are made from 3/16" or 1/4" steel barstock welded together to form the frame.  Some doors are laser or plasma cut from a sheet of 3/16" or 1/4" thick steel sheets which allows the frames to be made in a variety of custom shapes.  These doors are finished with either a thick brass plating or are overlayed with sheet of solid brass.(overlaying involves cutting sheets or coils of solid brass oe Stainless Steel usually 0.025" thick, bending it to fit the shape of the frame and attaching the brass to the steel frame either mechanically or with a high temperature adhesive or sometime both.  The better quality doors will generlly use 1/4" thick tempered glass.

The most expensive doors are those made from solid brass.  They are built the same as a better quality door but use 3/16" or 1/4" brass instead of steel.  They are then hand polished and finished.