Sometimes it makes more sense to have your door installed directly within the fireplace opening, instead of overlapping around the outside of it. That’s what an inside fit door is - a door that will rest entirely between the walls of your fireplace opening. Inside fit masonry fireplace doors are available in many different styles and sizes.
While overlap doors are the most common fitment for a masonry fireplace, they aren’t always a viable option. If your brick or stone fireplace facing isn’t relatively flush across the front, it may be too rough, or have parts that protrude too much to allow an overlap door to sit flat.
Perhaps you just don’t want to cover any of the details of your masonry facing and would prefer to have your door installed just inside of the fireplace opening, instead. While it can be a bit more labor-intensive to fully install an inside fit door in a masonry fireplace rather than an overlap door, it can also be a great way to show off the most and best of your masonry opening without covering it with the portion of an overlap door’s frame that extends beyond the opening itself.
The majority of the steps that you’ll need to take to install your new inside fit fireplace glass doors will be the same steps that you would have with an overlap door. One of the most significant differences with an inside fit fireplace door, is that you will end up with small gaps around the outside edge of the door’s frame, which will need to be filled in with fireplace mortar or high-temp silicone, depending on what material your door sits within and how large the gaps are. For most stone and brick-faced fireplaces, you will be able to use fireplace mortar, though it may make more sense to use high-temp silicone with marble, granite, tile, and other smooth facing materials.
We have a full selection of mortar and silicone that you can purchase with your fireplace door!
Q: How do I know what kind of door I need for my fireplace?
Once you’ve determined what type of fireplace you have, you’re ready to look a little further to see what door type might work well for you.
If you have a masonry fireplace, and the facing material is relatively flat across the front, you could most likely use an overlap door. If your facing material isn’t very flat at all, you may need to purchase an inside fit fireplace door.
You can see our collection of custom masonry fireplace doors, many of which can be made in both an inside fit or overlap fitment.
If you found that you have a prefabricated fireplace, you will most likely need an inside fit prefab door, though there is a chance that a prefab overlap door could work for you.
Let us help you!
Fill out our quote form and send us some information about your fireplace and your interests and we will get right back to you with some suggestions for doors that will be a good match for your fireplace.