Corner Rumfords

Buckley Rumford Fireplaces
Corner Rumfords

Corner Rumfords are traditional in four-square houses. With just two chimneys, four corner fireplaces can be built on each floor - one in each of the four main rooms. Corner fireplaces are space efficient, leaving more wall space for doors and furniture. Corner fireplaces "see" or heat nearly all of the room, unlike fireplaces on a wall that leave blind spots in the corners on either side.
One of the issues when planning a corner fireplace is how to "twist" the flue so it lines up with a chimney that is square with the house. Four ways are common:
1) Keep the flue liner at a 45 degree angle within the chimney
2) Twist the flues a few degrees at each joint
3) Make a hand-parged twisted section of flue above the smoke chamber using HeatStop II refractory mortar
4) Use a round flue following these instructions

Another concern is how to get the fireplace as far back into the corner as possible. Generally, if the wall across the corner in which the fireplace opening is placed is 18" wide to each side of the fireplace opening (eg. six feet for a three foot fireplace opening) there will be enough room within the triangular space in the corner behind the line to build the fireplace. The code rules still apply: minimum 8" thick firebox walls plus 2" or 4" clear to combustible material. Walls can be made thicker, the fireplace safer and located farther back into the corner if the wall in the corner is masonry or if a wood framed corner is replaced with masonry.
Examples to the left. Click on the image for more detail.