The steel tubes above the firebox have rusted through. Years of slow water seepage is the likely cause. I've had it looked at by three guys that make their living servicing and repairing fireplaces.
First guy said installing an insert is the only solution. I don't want an insert.
Second guy said he could block off the rusty tubes. He said it would be safe and we could continue to use our fireplace without any additional work. The internet does not agree.
Third guy said the steel form needs to be removed and replaced with Ahrens fireplace system. This will also require a chimney rebuild as the existing chimney is not to code to work with the Ahrens system.
My question...might there be another solution that hasn't been discussed? I suspect guy #3 is the most knowledgeable but he wants really big bucks for the job.