Gas Fireplaces and Fire Pits in Gilbert

Gilbert was incorporated on July 6, 1920, and for years called itself the Hay Shipping Capital of the World. In 1990 it had 29,188 people. By 2020 it had 267,918, and between 2000 and 2010 it grew about 90 percent, the fastest rate of any large incorporated place in the country. The Census Bureau's 2020 to 2024 survey shows the result: a median year built of 2003, 60 percent of homes built in 2000 or later, and only 4 percent from before 1980.

So a Gilbert fireplace is almost always a factory-built gas unit, vented through a framed chase finished in stucco and capped with sheet metal. Gas service is common too. Utility gas is the main heating fuel in 43 percent of homes, more than in Chandler, Mesa or Tempe, and 73 percent of homes are owner-occupied, which is why so much of our Gilbert work happens in the backyard.

The backyard is the fireplace

In Power Ranch, Morrison Ranch and the neighborhoods around them, the fire people actually use is often on the patio: a fire pit with lava rock or glass, a fire table by the pool, or a stucco outdoor fireplace built with the house. These live outside through 100-degree summers, monsoon rain and blowing dust, and they are usually the first thing to fail in the fall.

A fire pit that clicks, sparks or lights for a few seconds and dies usually has a dirty flame sensor, a weak igniter or ports clogged with debris. We diagnose it for free and write the repair price on the spot. If the burner is past saving, HomeGuide's range for a new gas fire pit is $3,500 to $8,000 installed, and a prefab outdoor fireplace runs $1,500 to $9,000.

Agritopia, Val Vista Lakes and the older edges

Agritopia, the 166-acre neighborhood built around a working farm off the 202, broke ground on homes in 2003, so its houses are firmly post-1998. Val Vista Lakes, one of Gilbert's older lake communities, has more homes from the late 1980s and 1990s, and a few of them still have wood-capable factory-built fireplaces. Those need a flue check before anyone lights a log.

Near the Heritage District and along the original town grid, the oldest Gilbert homes occasionally have a brick fireplace. They are rare, but when we find one it gets the same full look: crown, cap, damper and flue.

Stucco chases on two-story homes

Many Gilbert homes are two stories, and the fireplace chase runs up the outside wall to a sheet-metal cover above the roof. That cover is where water gets in. A rusted or dished cover lets monsoon rain pool and drip down the flue. Fixr's range for a chase cover replacement is $300 to $700, and HomeGuide puts small stucco repairs at $200 to $800, so catching it early keeps the job small.

HOA rules and permits

Most Gilbert neighborhoods are master-planned, and many master-planned communities have CC&R rules on fire features. Check your HOA's architectural guidelines before adding or moving a fire pit or outdoor fireplace. For any new gas line we check what the town requires before work starts.

Inside, the most common Gilbert call is simpler: a direct-vent unit with a hazy glass front, a remote that no longer talks to the receiver, or flames that lift and lick at the top of the firebox. We clean, test and set the unit to the maker's specifications, and if the glass is etched or cracked we quote the right replacement for that model.

Where we work in Gilbert

Agritopia · Power Ranch · Val Vista Lakes · Morrison Ranch · Heritage District · Neighborhoods near SanTan Village