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List Price: $199.00
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This is the second Trim Kit I have purchased. (Left the first one in previous house). The instructions for assembly are bad and difficult to follow. Just pictures with no written instructions. Worst part is the poor quality of screws for assembly. They are cheaply made and threads easily stripped during installation. It was, again, as with the first kit I purchased, a very frustrating experience to assemble.
Dealing with Amazon, through whom I made the purchase, was a good experience.
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Yes, the instructions are a joke. After reading them several times and studying the the diagrams, I did manage to get the thing put together. All told, it took me about 2 and half hours. Luckily, I did not have a problem with any of the screws as mentioned in other reviews. My biggest fear was I would run out of them, but as it turned out, there were a few extra included. When I finished installing the fire screen, I could not get it to close all the way. I have about a 3 inch gap in the middle between the two screens where they are supposed to close. Seems the hardware that holds the two curtain rods in the middle is in the way. No big deal though as it still looks pretty good left partially open. You know, I'm still scratching my head whether it's a design flaw or if I'm the one whose flawed. Anyways, as mentioned by most other reviewers, the directions were not much help in solving the problem.
The finished trim kit is very nice looking and frames my fireplace perfectly. Think of a picture frame surrounding a painting. It really does make a positive difference. It also hides the fireplace insert somewhat and I think makes it look more like a real wood fire.
The trim frame is well made of heavy steel and painted flat black. My fireplace opening measures 35 inches wide by 28 inches high framed in by a one inch piece of metal on the top and sides. As luck would have it, the trim kit just made the height limit at about 28 and and a half inches and fit the width perfectly with the trim kit extended to 36 inches. This allowed the trim kit to frame my fireplace opening perfectly without covering any of my "one of a kind" decorative tiles.
If I didn't need to have a perfect fit to frame in my fireplace, I would have certainly opted out for a less expensive fireplace screen or glass door set. You should too.
Update: After studying the mechanics of the closing mechanism for a couple of weeks, I finnally solved the problem and now I can close both screens completely in the middle. I now intend on leaving the screen fully closed as it really does look better this way. Says something about the terrible directions that come with the trim package.
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Well-constructed & does what it's designed to do, but it took me 6 hours to assemble and install this fireplace frame. The problem is mostly due to shortcomings in the instructions.
First, there are practically no instructions at all; it's follow the pictures . . . if your eyesight is good enough. Do not attempt this if you are spatially challenged, a novice at do-it-yourself projects, or lack sufficient lighting.
Second, the baggy of tiny black screws contains a surprise. Those screws all look much alike, but two of them are definitely not the same as the rest. Those two have have larger threads; if used in the wrong place, they could easily strip a pre-drilled hole (as an earlier reviewer may have done). Unfortunately, there is no warning note and those two screws are not called for until late in the process when it is time to fasten the frame bracket to the fireplace insert. By then, I had unwittingly used one of those two oddballs in the wrong place. I discovered the problem because none of the regular screws would grip the larger holes in the insert brackets. After unsuccessfully searching all packaging for two larger screws, I dumped the entire baggy of screws onto a white plate under good light and finally noticed one screw that looked a little different. If I had unwittingly used both of those oddballs, I would still be scratching my head & cussing Dimplex. Going back over previous steps, I located the first oddball screw and removed it; whew, that hole was not stripped. I gently re-did that step with a regular-size screw & a prayer.
Third, there is only one way to properly install the chain-link curtain . . . but 47 wrong ways. I counted. The pictures are little help; they show the objective, not the process. It takes ingenuity, persistence, and luck. Warning, do not let either rod slip out of place once installed or you'll be in recovery mode. And that leads to:
Fourth, there is no part . . . seriously . . . no part included to hold those curtain rods in place. Normal operation of the curtain can and will shuck those rods out of their brackets and you'll be in recovery mode once again. Either do what I did install the curtains & rods, then immediately wind some wire tightly around the straight ends of the rods & fix it in place with super glue. Or, if you're a patient person, visit a hardware store to buy two little "keepers" for the straight ends of those rods. And some super glue.
Three stars to match the three hairs that I have left after assembling and installing this fireplace frame. It sure does look great, though, and fortunately my wife thinks bald is sexy.
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We live in southern California so an open face fireplace is a waste of energy, not only that it is most places. We converted to gas logs that was no better we had to open a door or window to make it draw air correctly, if we did not the gas fumes would chase everyone out of the room. The electric flames look great, it even heats a little or will take the chill off the air( all we need). Best of all the fireplace is now blocked off on the roof and blocked in the flue, no more pasive heat loss, as dampers allow a lot of cold air in when there is no fire. I love this fireplace. I am buying the trim kit. We have solar panels so the heat is free! I am a contractor so it was easier for me to assemble. Otherwise you need to be a very handy person.
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After reading some of the reviews I was a bit hesitant to attempt to put this thing together by myself. However, hubby is out of town and I couldn't stand to see the box just sitting there. I decided to give it a try and approached it with a positive attitude and a sense of humor.
First I went through the screws and pulled out the two that were different from the others. (I saw this on a previous review).
The instructions are really just a drawing of how to put it together. I decided to use the French ones so I could claim I was bilingual for the morning. It really went together very easily, the pieces fit together just as labeled although I did have to back some screws out a few times and reposition them. No biggie.
The two different screws came in at the very end when you attach the trim kit to the Dimplex fireplace. Those are the only screws that will work there, so make sure you separate them out. They are the last two screws you need to put in.
As per a previous review, my screen will not meet in the middle and I can't really figure out why. They said they were able to fix theirs so I may contact them and ask how.
All in all, it took me a little over an hour. It looks really nice, but I do think it's a bit pricey for the quality. I would put the unit and trim kit in a main room (living room or dining room) but it's looks great in our guest room.
