Fireside Home Solutions

Long review but history is important! I purchased two fireplace inserts and a set of stand alone logs about 18 months ago spending over $10k. After installation, in the April 2020 timeframe, we tested both inserts. Neither would not stay lit so I called for service. It took a couple of weeks before they actually came out but not a huge deal since we were headed for early summer. The tech who arrived was very polite. He discovered the issue with one of the inserts was that the installers had failed to remove the ventilation knock out. Such a basic task and i wondered how the installers even test fired the unit? Likely, they did not. The tech told me the other unit was struggling to get air (via the ventilation piping they installed) and recommended I use the “cold climate” feature which helps with creating a draft. Fast forward to December 20, I tried to fire up the first fireplace and got an error message saying the unit had been “safely disabled.” The second unit, which we had been using for several days (cold climate feature in use) would now not stay lit. I called for service and it went to voicemail. Later in the day I got a call back. I explained what each unit was doing and was told by the rep that they were scheduling about a month out and that I needed to know that the service call for the two units would be $479. Wait, what? I asked how they could charge this outrageous sum without even knowing what the issue was! I was told that the service call included a 13 point inspection to which I said I wasn’t asking for an inspection just a repair. I was told that my units were out of warranty and that was the cost. I asked to speak to her supervisor. After a short hold, I was told that her manager would call me after she finished her meetings. Never heard from the manager. Meanwhile, I looked at a video produced by the manufacturer and fixed the first unit simply by toggling a switch. I got the second until going by removing the front glass while firing it up allowing it to get the necessary oxygen and warming the vent enough to create the necessary draft. $479 saved, for now, but the installation of the second unit must have some issue as the unit does not consistently operate as designed. After the first of the year, I called again and read polite assistant who apologized and said they were working on their responses. She put me on hold and when she came back, she said the repair supervisor was booked but said he had me on his school the following “Tuesday.” Four months and still no call back! My opinion is that the Heat N Go fireplace units are just fine, rather Fireside has two significant issues: poor installers and horrible customer service. Oh, and I looked up the warranty on these units there are warranted items up to limited lifetime including three year labor.

I just finished a major home remodel and this company was the single worst vendor that I dealt with. The quality of the work they performed was substandard, I tried to get them to fix it and they basically made it my problem, and they don't stand behind their work. Beware of this company.

Very well. They were here when they said they would be here, they used numerous drop cloths and cleaned up after themselves, installed the fireplace inserts,and had them inspected by the city. They did a very good job.

Great! Love using my fireplace in the chilly months.

Overall, dealing with Fireside Home Solutions (FHS) was a very time-consuming, frustrating and exhaustive experience. To be fair, it started off very well. I met Tom G. at their location off TV Hwy in Beaverton in late October (Oct 27). I tell him that the original stove was removed from my house because it wasn't up to code when the previous owners went to sell. Instead of replacing it, they left the hearth area empty. I relay to him, I'd like the stove to be able to heat the first level of my house (about 1,000 sq ft). He listened and told me some options they had. That same day, I scheduled a pre-inspection and a couple weeks later (Nov 8) Tim R. showed up to ensure the wood-burning stove I wanted would fit the hearth. Unfortunately, the stove I wanted wouldn't fit due to code restrictions. Tim was great in recommending a gas stove and I am very glad he did! I had a quote for a gas stove two days later. I also took Tim's advice and went to their main location in Tigard to look at the gas stoves they had in stock. That visit, I bought the Quadra-fire Sapphire gas stove with remote and fan and scheduled a trio of consecutive appointments from Dec 13-15. These appointments were to run the gas line to the hearth, inspection and permit, and stove install and light-off. At this point I paid $3,000 up front with the remainder (~$1,100) to be paid upon job completion. Coincidentally, this is also the last time I felt confident in this company. Dec 13: The FHS install technicians were supposed to arrive between 11-1 pm. 1:15: I call the main number and after jumping through the automated hoops, I was able to talk to a real person. I explain the situation to the lady and tells me that they may be running late and that she would try to contact the team and get an ETA and relay that to me. I never got an update 1:40: I call the main number again, jump through the automated hoops and eventually talk to the same lady I had before. This time she tells me that she was unable to get a hold of the technicians but told me that they were "signed-in" to my job and that they should be there shortly. 2:00: I call the main number again and in the middle of jumping through the automated hoops, the doorbell rings so I hang up. It was the UPS man. 2:20: Two FHS guys finally show up, and then, one immediately leaves for another job. The guy that was left spoke limited English (and I kicked myself for blowing off 4 years of high school Spanish) but it seemed like he was at least able to understand me. After a labored back-and-forth review of the job and what I wanted, he got to work running the gas line to the hearth. A couple hours later his partner shows up and a couple hours after that (~6:00) they finish. Dec 14: The city inspector was due to arrive between 9-11. 11:15: I call the main number, jump through automated hoops, talk to a real person, explain the situation, was told that because it was a city inspector, they have limited resources to get in contact with the person. She tells me she would try to get in contact with the inspector and relay me the ETA. I tell her I want a call regardless if she got in contact with the person. A few minutes later she calls me back and tells me that the inspector is on his way. 12:00: The inspector arrives and starts his inspection, asks me a couple questions and says everything looks good. 12:10: The inspector leaves. Dec 15: FHS installers to set-up and light-off fireplace between 9-11. 10:50: The installation techs (same crew as before) show up. They ask if it passed inspection which I thought was odd that there was no follow-up with the inspector from FHS; perhaps that's just industry standard. Regardless, they get to work. 12:30: The fireplace is up and running. I point out the left side of the stove and how uneven that side looked. The install tech told me it looked fine and that it was level. Given the language barrier, I didn't feel like arguing. I don't think he was being rude, he just wasn't seeing what I was. After I give up on trying to get my stove level, I talk with the technician about the stove and how to operate it. He points to a power switch and flips it on and off quickly. I ask, "Is that it?" "That's it!" he says confidently. Dissatisfied with the answer, I press him for more information about how the fan works and where the remote is. At this point, he tells me that I didn't order the fan or the remote. I then show him my receipt pointing out the fan and remote. He tells me he's sorry about the confusion and that those items were not included in his work order which he then shows me, he was right. To make it up, he tells me, he could be by the next day around 3 pm to set it up. I think that's fair and I clearly ask if he'll be by the next day and he clearly said he would and that it would take no time to set it up, "30 minutes max" he says. Dec 16: No show. Dec 19: After not hearing back from FHS after the job failed to be completed. I emailed Tim R. and told him I'd like to talk with him. About 40 minutes later, I get a call from FHS scheduling, which I missed and called them back the next day. Dec 20: I call FHS to schedule a time to have my fan and remote hooked up. I explain to the lady, that I am pretty dissatisfied with how the whole process has gone. She seems sympathetic and tells me to contact Tim R. I tell her, I sent him an email a couple days ago and have yet to hear anything back. She informs me she'll look into it. I also schedule another appointment for Jan 2. Dec 21: Tim returns my email. Dec 22: I call call Tim and go over what had happened and why I was unhappy with it. I also mention a dented exhaust panel and the unevenness of the stove. He tells me, he wasn't informed about issues related to this but asks that I send him some pictures of what we talked about. Within the hour, I send him the pictures and he responded with "Thanks Chris, that helps. I will pass this on and we will get it taken care of!" Jan 2: The FHS guys show up to install the fan/remote, replace the panel and square up the stove. I point out the where the stove looked uneven and the dent in the exhaust panel. Their response is that they can square up the stove a bit more but I should have told someone that I wanted the exhaust panel replaced. I tell them that I had contacted Tim about these issues and that he would pass it on to them and "get it taken care of!" They respond as expected at this point, with: they were never told about anything. Fortunately, they were able to level out the stove and they would pass on that I still need a new exhaust panel. ***My main reason for deciding to go with FHS was they had everything under one roof: sales-scheduling-install and they used their own supplier trained technicians for the work. I figured this would make it easier, but FHS seems to suffer from a severe lack of internal communication. I still owed them $1,100, so at some point, they will contact me to either schedule another appointment or to collect their owed money.*** Jan 10: I get a call from FHS collections department. The man on the other end, asks how I would like to pay the remainder of my balance. I make it clear, that I won't be paying anything until the job was finished. He explains his records show that the fan and the remote were installed and everything was complete. I explain the situation. He responds by telling me he'll look into it and to expect a call later. Jan 11: I get a call from FHS schedulers. We set a date for the morning of Jan 31. Jan 30: I get an email informing me my appointment was rescheduled for later that Friday, Jan 2. I respond the next day by saying that time did not work for me. Jan 31: I call FHS to schedule another appointment. I ask why my previous appointment was rescheduled and was given an answer of "I don't know" and that no additional information was available to her. An appointment is scheduled for February 16. Feb 16: The exhaust panel is replaced and the FHS epic finally ends. In the description of events above, I tried to be as objective as possible. I am not an unreasonable person. I don't expect perfection every time, mistakes happen. It's how mistakes are dealt with that separates good companies from bad. In the case of FHS, there were just too many mistakes and weak attempts to correct them. I really hope they can take my (and other) criticisms to improve. So, am I happy with my purchase? Yes, and no. I think it looks great and it seems to be operating with no issues. I will say that having the stove provide heat is much better than without it. I was able to increase the temp in my house by about 5 degrees F while using the same amount of natural gas. I have two issues with this stove: 1) It's heat output is too low. I wanted the stove to be able to heat the first floor and it barely is able to heat one room. I thought I had made that clear, but FHS was unable to deliver on this point. 2) This stove absolutely needs a fan and controller if you want it to achieve any kind of heat utility. With that being said, the medium and high fan speeds are too loud and cool the stove off too much to allow it to generate any significant heat. So, we keep the fan on low. Also, the Heat n' Glo remote is pretty useless in my case. The remote allows you to: change flame height (5 levels), fan speed, set temperature, set a run time. Since, this stove is under-powered for our use, we just leave it on low fan speed and high flame and turn it on and off as we need it. The temperature setting could be useful, but it turns off the stove once it reaches a certain point relative to the set point. One does need the fan and the remote for the stove to be useful but I can only use a small fraction of the potential of either item. This kit cost an additional $460 which seems like a significant amount to get utility out of your fireplace.

While the price was very high, this specialty company did a good job on servicing the units. The specialist was kind, offered some good suggestions on bringing down the price for the next visit and was punctual.

I called and asked about repair work 3 times. They stated in order to simply come out and diagnose the problem it would be a minimum and $350.00 and this fee doesn't even apply to any repairs?!?!?!? Highway robbery! To add insult to injury they refused to tell me what services are included in the 350.00 diagnosis/repair fee. The worst part is they hung up on me multiple times. Absolutely unprofessional company. Do not use Fireside Home Solutions for any type of repair work if you respect yourself.

Our initial contact with Fireside (beyond online research) was visiting their showroom -- they were very helpful in guiding us toward a choice that met our needs and tastes but would also net us the best price and energy incentives. The scheduling and installation was also handled smoothly and professionally, though we did run into a few small but significant problems afterwards: 1) the final mechanical inspection was not scheduled; 2) one set of energy rebate paperwork was not filed correctly; and 3) there was a very small gas leak where the new line branched off from our gas meter. The first two issues, however, were quickly resolved by Fireside when we brought attention to them; the third issue was actually fixed by the gas company when we took advantage of their free inspections.

Great work! Where there was formerly an old wood-burning stove, we decided we wanted a fireplace instead. Jeff was very helpful via email in identifying a unit that suited our tastes and needs. While there was a slight scheduling hiccup, it was quickly corrected and the guys showed up as originally scheduled. They were extremely thorough and did solid, quality work--including replacing the old stove's original chimney. Due to the awkward location of the old chimney, it was tricky to center the fireplace in the room--but they did it! They were also helpful to recommend a great Masonry contractor (Duane L Shaw) to install the brick and finishing. Now our fireplace looks as if it were always there! Very satisfied.

The $700 covers three years of inspections/repairs. Alex Rapae is very professional and friendly. He removed his shoes, put down a drop cloth, and began the inspection. He described everything he was doing as he worked. While he worked, Alex allowed me to use his gas sensor outside our house to check our gas grill connection. Once Alex finished, he vacuumed the area, rolled up the drop cloth and made very detailed notes on our receipt regarding our next inspection. Alex Rapae is awesome. Thanks, Alex.

They're awesome and they came and did the service for me. I have a yearly service with them and they were really good. I am very pleased with their service.

Our house is approximately 20 years old and still had the original gas fireplace, which had stopped working a couple years ago. We decided to replace it this year, and had Jeff from Fireside come out to give us an estimate. He walked through our options for fireplaces as well as installation options. He explained that they could take the fireplace out from the interior, in which case they would likely have to patch the mantel, or they could go in from the back, through the exterior siding, in order to preserve the mantel. After going through our options, we decided to go with a fireplace from Fireside and have them install it. The installers showed up on time, were very professional, knew exactly what they were doing, and did a great job on the installation. They did a very nice job patching the exterior siding, and with some minor touch-up paint this summer (which I was told ahead of time would be required), it will not be possible to tell it was ever touched. I have some handyman skills, and based on my request they allowed me to do the electrical hook-up to save on some of the installation costs. When the installation was done, they demonstrated how to use it, and made sure we were totally satisfied before leaving. Overall it was a great experience, and we love our new fireplace.

Checked our CC account on 12/6/11 and they had charged the full price of 3,575, not the 50% downpayment. Called them back and received 50% back on 12/9/11. The two "installers" on 12/7/11 were very unprofessional. Began with not removing their shoes (raining and muddy outside). They set the stove into position, took out the old piping but did not put drop cloths down to catch soot which was tar-like. More importantly, they could not get the liner installed, but caused a lot of soot/ash/tarry creosote to fall down into the new stove and on the brick and adjacent near-white carpet. They said the liner was too short, they'd have to get a longer one and left without any concern over the mess they made in and around the new stove. They simply left. I had to clean everything up which ended up ruining a good vacuum due to the creosote and ash sticking to the inside of the vacuum hose which caused a noxious odor when used after that. I assumed the "installers" cleaned the flue before putting the liner down since that would make sense and the amount of soot, creosote and ash that covered the stove and floor was enough to give that impression. The two installers on 12/14/12 were much more professional, beginning with removing shoes and putting drop cloths down without being asked. The installer on 12/21/12 was also very professional. Having the initial installers out again on 1/16/12 was another annoying experience as they tried to argue with me about the need to install the receiver for the remote; even though their boss/one of the owners, said they would reply both parts. In the end, it took 40 days to get everything working correctly. The owner did give us an approximately $500 credit since we had so much trouble. I thought that was it until this summer when we were getting daily down drafts through the flue pushing the smell of creosote into the whole level of the house the gas log stove was on. This went on for a couple of months, than when the winds change direction this fall the down drafts stopped. We did contact an A listed Chimney sweep and refurbisher (Angie's List) who came out and told us the flue the liner is in was not cleaned when Fireside installed the liner. The cost of having the liner removed, the flue cleaned out and a new liner and parts installed and the cap installed property was $925. This is the reason I'm now writing this review. This was the concluding episode of our Fireside Distributors experience. What should have been a 2 to 3 hour job including cleaning out the flue, installing the liner and setting up the stove, including the propane gas converter, gas logs, etc. ended up being a series of problems that took 40 days to get the stove working property. Then, to discover six months later that fumes were coming down the flue and finding out this last month that the flue was never cleaned is more than anyone should have to experience. Thus, I thought it important to post this review. The $4,500 we spent includes the $925 to have the flue cleaned and new liner and parts reinstalled.

After two years in our new home (6 years old) we had Fireside do a maintenance check/tune-up. Rick was prompt, courteous, knowledgeable, informative and funny. He cleaned and carefully tune-up each fireplace (checked for leaks, insured proper ignition, cleaned surfaces/fixtures, replaced glow embers). We had noted a gas smell near one fireplace only near floor. Rick explained several reasons why this could occur and then isolated and repaired a leak. At my request, he provided info on upgrades to controls/etc that could be done (not pushy). I elected to have a blow fan installed - he had this in the van - there was no installation cost since he was already working in the fireplace - just cost of part. He did explain benefits of service plan which I ended up purchasing (3 years). Compared to cost of the individual service visits, this is a good deal. That said, the service calls, especially if two fireplaces, are rather expensive. Will be using their services for at least the next 3 years under the service contract. Very pleased with the service and with confidence that they know what they are doing.

We had contacted and solicited bids from several fireplace distributors in the Portland area before selecting Fireside Distributors for our project. Our decision was largely driven by our contractor's positive experience with this distributor with other clients but my wife and I were particularly impressed by the degree of interest on the part of the staff in our project. The show room was comprehensive with a number of units that we could evaluate up close. The staff was very knowledgeable and friendly. We highly recommend Fireside Distributors of Oregon. Greg and Susan Beaverton, Oregon

We bought a house that had a gas fireplace we wanted to know if we could use it for wood burning. We were told that we could have it serviced for 239 over the phone. The guy showed up vacuumed the outside of the fireplace removed gas logs and told us we could use it for wood burning. He told us we would need to take out the rest of the ashes ourselves. My husband wrote him a check and after he left we were really confused on why that would cost 239.00. I called the office and was given a detailed list on the service they are suppose to perform and once I told them that none of that was done during our service I have been passed around from person to person still with no explanation or help. Further more they are now rude to me when I call. The reviews on this company speak loudly for the service they provide. Wish I would of joined Angie's list before having them out to our house.

My experience with Fireside was not a good one. I had them replace a basic fireplace in my great room with a cultured stone fireplace. The crew that built the cement board backing did not square their work; one side of my fireplace has an angle almost three inches different between the top and the bottom. Even though I pointed this out at the time, they said it would not be noticed after the mason put up the stone ... they lied! This crew also stole my personal tape measure which I had sitting on my kitchen counter. It took me over a month to get Fireside to replace my tape ...Agh! When it came to my mantle, it was the correct color and material, however it was at least 4-6 inches short on both sides. I told the salesman I wanted the ends of the mantle to be 6 inches from the edge of the fireplace. What I got was a mantle that is 11 inches from each side; this is because the salesman measured for the mantle without taking into account the increase the stone would add to the overall width of the fireplace. He should have known better ... The final issue was the mason. Generally he did a good job, except for the following; 1 - he was unable to "hide" the angle problem that was promised, 2 - mortar was not cleaned off the stone, 3 - an area of stone near the center of the fireplace looks bad and needed to be replaced and 4 - part of one stone was missing color and needed to be repaired. The mason refused to fix any of these issues, because as he told me, Fireside would not pay him more money for fixing what he did not do correctly to begin with. Fireside also refused to fix the issues, because they said the mason was paid for the job and that any issues were to be fixed by him. ... Can you say run-around? I would never recommend this company. You would be better off sub-contracting yourself than using this "one stop fireplace" store.

We had a lot of difficulties with the project. Even though they were replacing existing fireplace openings, their estimate was based on a unit that was way too big for the openings. That was an obvious problem from the beginning. Installation was very difficult and they had to come back to make multiple repairs. They made good on everything but the quote was inaccurate, installation was a problem, and everything was delayed. We had a lot of water come in while they were patching the chimney and it was a miserable project. Somehow the requests they made for a city inspection didn't go through so I was home most of the day waiting for someone. That was an error on their part; the person who put in the request must not have been using the online system correctly because the city had no record of their requests. I love the end result and they made good on everything, but the process was miserable.

Although Fireside is considered one of the best in our area and does many of the Street of Dreams homes, they didn' t do such a great job for us. This was a high quality unit. The installer they sent installed the unit so that there is a 1/4 inch difference from one side to the other. Unfortunately, it wasn't noticed until the concrete surround was in and it was determined that the surround was level, but the fireplace was not. It doesn't sound like much, but you see that the fireplace isn't level. The vent installation on the outside of the house is a mess, with sealer drippings running down the wall and saw marks where he cut the opening too big. It looks bad. Fireside is so difficult to get on the phone for repairs that I gave up trying to get those things fixed. But the fireplace starter has died and been replaced 3 times in the last 4yrs. The first 2 times were warranteed, the third, we had to pay for the visit and repair. It's a beautiful fireplace, but you really need to do your homework on the product and watch the installer carefully to make sure he's doing a good job.

Bad experience. To start with, I found it unusual that bids from two different vendors were within $3.00 of each other for the work. However, we proceeded... scheduling delays due to miscommunications getting the project started (we had paid 50% up front). Demo and installation was ok, but then the adventure really got going. First a gas leak we discovered outside, had NWNG come fix it. NWNG blamed Fireside, Fireside blamed NWNG. During brick installation, the mason said he did not have a picture to work from, Fireside said he did... mason said brick was only replacement option (it was white, not red as original). Brickwork was crooked and not in original condition so we complained, asked for it to be redone. Told mason he had to fix it (finally -- two months of back and forth). Finally took a letter from me to the company president as well as multiple visits to get work re-done. Didn't return calls after we had paid full amount. Didn't provide the NWNG rebate form until we had insisted three times... The mason never did get a picture from Fireside with which to do the work. When he did come back to finish, he used places in our backyard to clean-up, leaving cement stains on the fence. To be fair, the mason did work with us in the end to fix the work so we finally have something we're satisfied with. But it shouldn't have taken as much energy and push on our part to get this work done.

They have quality products but I was too concerned about 1)the lack of initial response, 2) the time to schedule a home visit and 3) the slow turnaround in getting the estimate. It took over 4 weeks. The estimate was by far the highest as well. Because of these factors we decided to go with another vender.

Service tech (Jeff Ryan) called before arriving: very punctual and professional and prepared with tools and parts. Explained what he was doing as he went along. Offered to put in a fan for me, which he had with him, but then discovered I had no electrical power to the fireplace box. Offered to remedy that too if I wanted and since I decided to wait, he noted it on the service report so that if I changed my mind in 60 days, they would come back out and waive the service call fee. Made sure my remote was working in tune with the fireplace before he left and explained the pros and cons of leaving the pilot light on 24/7. In and out in about an hour.

John did a fabulous job of checking out the fireplace, cleaning out the old ember setup and very artistically built the new embers and reset the logs. It looks so realistic, you would never know they were gas logs. I'd totally recommend having your fireplace changed over to gas. It's clean, it's earth friendly, and beautiful...not to mention cleaner than burning wood. I love it and Fireside is the best!

They never did the work when they were scheduled to do the work. They were back and forth and took all the measurements and at the last minute they did not have the inserter that would fit into my fire place and they took about a month to realize that.

Our contractor showed us pictures of different styles of gas fireplaces. We selected our choice, he ordered it and prepared the space. Fireside did the rest of the installation. Workmen have come out at least 3 times to work on it, at one point saying there was no power to the fireplace. Our contractor came out to check and it was in fact in place. We then requested a replacement at which point Jeff the manager came out, met with us and our contractor, got the fireplace to work. Jeff said it was a very dependable unit. We requested a replacement or an extended warranty. It is now working but is very slow to come on. There was no follow up until I contacted them again at which point, Jeff for Emails from Fireside: We can do neither. We did not install the fireplace or the fan. We were however hired by David to do the start up and fix the fan installation. We can offer a maintenance agreement for up to 3 yrs. The cost is $ 359.00. We are however, willing to provide you with the contractors discounted rate of 289.00. There was no apparent problem with the fireplace when I was there and met with you and David. All past issues have been directly contributed to installation. If you would like a manufacturer representative to visit your home and review your concerns I can also arrange that. Jeff Bennett Production Manager On Mar 18, 2009, at 12:48 PM, Jeff Bennett wrote: This is the response I received from the manufacturer. I forwarded this to Dave on the date below. Let me know if you have had any further problems with the fireplace. Jeff Bennett Production Manager From: Gary Reuter Sent: Friday, March 06, 2009 7:44 AM To: Jeff Bennett Subject: FW: warranty - Fireside Good morning Jeff. Here is response I received from HTL Tech. Let me know if you have any other questions and have a great day. Gary Reuter District Sales Manager Hearth & Home Technologies Cell: 623.845.2811Hi Gary, I see nothing in the email that would lead me to believe that the fireplace is defective or would be having any performance problems. The problems described sound as if they were caused by installer error. We cannot extend the warranty on this unit. Have a great day. Jerry Good afternoon. I wanted to see if I could get an update regarding customers email below? Thanks. Gary Reuter District Sales Manager Hearth & Home Technologies Cell: 623.845.2811 Good afternoon. Can you review email below and give tech s response regarding an extended warranty? Thanks and have a great week. Gary Reuter District Sales Manager Hearth & Home Technologies Cell: 623.845.2811 Gary, hope all is well. Fireside has a contractor who I have copied on this email. He purchased a NDV4236-IPI in the spring of 08.it is vented straight up an exterior chase approx. 18.