I am new to this forum but hoping someone can help me out. I am building a new home in the SF Bay Area and have an exterior courtyard outside my family room. I had spec'ed an indoor/outdoor gas fireplace for this space thinking that such a thing should be easy enough to customize. It's just a view-thru two-sided fireplace right? No such luck! Heat-n-Glo makes a unit that is designed for indoor/outdoor use but other two-sided fireplaces are indoor only. The only problem is that the Heat-n-Glo is a bit small and it's very traditional. I was looking for a linear, modern burner. I've called a number of manufacturers and spoken to a number of fireplace showrooms and no one can help me. Does anyone here have any design ideas, models recommendations or custom shops they can recommend? Many thanks!

Wow. NJ is a long way from Southern California. Styles are completely different. There are many outlets here that carry gas or propane fireplaces. In fact, we are considering one that was shockingly inexpensive ($2,000), but we found these cute little portable fire pits that use clean propane, so we have two of those on our property. No sparks or smoke ever. They are 50,000 BTU and put out a lot of heat. We still might get the fireplace for the highest point on our property. Other things have priority. Do a web search for BBQ/Smoker type stores close to you. They usually have pre-fab fireplaces too. Good luck to you.

I have the same issue, except mine had an electric heating element. I’m planning on doing a high-temp clear coat on the outside, high-temp black on the inside and base, then lining the bottom with firebricks. Fingers crossed!

Have a chimney inspector or a experienced chimney sweep take a look at it make sure it's clean and properly vented for gas. (I thought a smaller diameter liner had to be installed???) Maybe the black is old stains from previous fires and not a creosote build up. Much of the chimney still showing the orange of the terracotta lining and not stained so must not have been too many wood fires.