Hi Krischic, most of the garden beds in my yard are in locations that previously had mature trees with misc. shrubbery (mostly invasives). The previous owner had the large trees in front removed before I moved in, mostly pines but one large oak too. I wanted "instant" garden beds and adding soil on top was not an option, so I dug out Vinca minor, many invasive shrubs, and PILES of roots. The pine roots rotted pretty quickly and have been fairly easy to dig up. Then I'd usually add some compost and plant a perennial or shrub. But I was unable to dig out the oak stump or roots. The stump was ground down about 4 inches below the surface, but it is huge and not going anywhere anytime soon. So I covered it with aged wood chips and put a concrete bird bath over the top of it. And I've planted the garden around the roots.

Yes, a direct vent gas fireplace can be put anywhere in the house if the vent lengths and turns meets the rules of the manufacturer which are shown in the form of charts & diagrams in the installation instructions. It can vent horizontally to an outside wall or vertically through the roof within those rules. The roof termination would be an exposed metal pipe. Fresh/combustion air is drawn into the outer wall of the vent and the center pipe acts as the exhaust for combustion byproducts. A B-vent gas fireplace can only vent to the roof and draws combustion air from the room (or through a separate outside air duct). It can have a glass face or bi-fold doors. Either unit might have heat recirculating louvers or not. If you find the roof termination unattractive you can add a fake masonry or wood surround. Roof leaks shouldn't be an issue if the roofer knows how to flash a roof penetration. Be sure to use Ice & Water Shield self-adhering flexible flashing in addition to the factory metal flashing. Click on one of the direct vent gas fireplace installation manuals and see if the vent tables will work for your installation. It's a lot of design work if the vent travels horizontally and vertically. Here is a link that might be useful: installation manuals

Unfortunately we had to make the through the roof decision yesterday because today the cedar shake roof went on and there is no turning back now. We are going out the side of the house, for better or for worse. Today I took my husband to an appliance store in hopes that we would be looking at washers and dryers. What else did the store sell? Vent a Hood. The salesman got hold of my DH and you know the ending. Yes, my DH loves Vent a Hood. So right now I am showing him all the information on this site re how noisy it is, etc. but I am losing the case. Help. Any opinions out there would be greatly appreciated.

Unfortunately, there are no "objective" ratings of the Consumer Reports type. The first thing you need to do is find a contractor or installer you have confidence in. This is really the highest priority -- if you can't find one with an established reputation who is willing to do it, don't do it. So you need to size up a reputation by asking around. Next you need to comb the web for direct vent gas fireplaces, to see which appeal to you. Some fireplace stores have fireplace inserts on display, which may be an indirect help in selecting the right one for you. If a company with good reputation in their stoves and inserts also makes a fireplace that you like, and the installer you like says they can put it in for you, then you decision is made. We have a direct vent gas insert by Jotul that was retrofitted into our prefab wood burning fireplace, and we're very pleased with it. The Jotul brand is well known for its quality stoves and related products. They are manufactured in Norway and assembled in Maine. I believe they have a gas direct vent fireplace that fits into a corner. You can check out their website, which is pretty informative--you can download all the installation manuals, etc. the one thing I did not like about Jotul is that their customer service 800# is not intended for "retail" calls, but for installers. So if you have a question that your installer cannot answer, you cannot expect an answer directly from the manufacturer. I am sure there are many options other than Jotul. Just shop around on the web. Do a google search for direct vent fireplace. One more thing: Most of these units come with a remote control thermostat at an extra cost. I think they charge too much for them, but they are really worth the cost, because these units can feel like a blast furnace after a while, and you do need to control them with a thermostat.