Pleasant Hearth Ascot Small Glass Fireplace Doors Review: simple upgrade for a dated hearth

I put the Pleasant Hearth Ascot Small Glass Fireplace Doors on an older brick fireplace that originally just had a basic mesh screen. No fancy insert, just a regular masonry box in a 1970s living room. I wanted something that looked cleaner, cut down on drafts, and didn’t cost as much as a full custom door setup from a fireplace shop. This model kept coming up with good ratings and a price that was more reasonable than most of the stuff I saw locally.

Out of the box, my first impression was pretty straightforward: it’s heavy, it’s solid, and it looks like what you’d expect from the photos. No big surprises, which is already a win in this category. I’m not a contractor, I’m just reasonably handy, and I was able to get it installed in under an hour taking my time. If you can use a tape measure and a screwdriver, you’re probably fine.

After a couple of weeks of use and a handful of fires, I have a decent feel for how it behaves in real life: how the doors open, how much heat you feel, how the room looks, and whether it actually helps with drafts when the fire is out. It’s not perfect, and there are a few details that could easily be better, but overall it does what it’s supposed to do without feeling cheap or flimsy.

If you’re expecting something high-end with fancy trim and perfectly smooth everything, this isn’t that. If you just want your old fireplace to look cleaner, be a bit safer around kids and pets, and stop feeling like a big open hole in the wall, this is a pretty solid option. Below I’ll break down what stood out to me: the design, materials, how it performs, durability vibes, and whether I think the price is fair for what you actually get.

For the price range this sits in, I’d call the value good but not mind-blowing. You’re not paying custom-shop prices, but you’re also not getting bargain-bin flimsy metal. The steel frame, tempered glass, and overall build feel appropriate for what you spend. When I compared it to doors at the local big-box store, this one looked at least as good, sometimes better, and online pricing was usually a bit lower than in-store options.

If you’re coming from a basic freestanding screen, this feels like a real upgrade in both looks and function. The fireplace suddenly looks more finished, and you get the bonus of less draft and better spark control. A few Amazon reviewers said things like “well worth the money” and I agree with that general idea. It’s not some bargain steal, but you do get solid hardware that does what it’s supposed to do without feeling cheap.

Where the value slips a bit is in the small annoyances: reports of missing insulation or instructions, and the fact that this is strictly for masonry fireplaces. If you buy it without reading that and have a prefab unit, it’s useless to you and you’re stuck returning a 40-pound box. So you do need to measure carefully and check your fireplace type before hitting buy. Also, don’t expect it to turn your fireplace into a high-efficiency heater; if that’s your goal, this is the wrong product altogether.

Overall, I’d say if you have the right kind of fireplace, want a cleaner look, and care about function more than fancy design, the value is there. If you’re super picky about finishes or want something custom-fitted to odd openings, you’ll probably have to spend more elsewhere. For a normal living room with a standard brick firebox, this hits a nice middle ground between cost and quality.

Design-wise, the Ascot is pretty low-key, which I actually liked. It’s a flat black frame with clear glass and standard mesh panels behind the doors. No brass trim, no fancy patterns, nothing that screams 1990s hotel lobby. If you’ve painted your brick darker or gone for a more modern look, this fits in without drawing too much attention to itself. It’s more of a clean border around the fire than a big decorative statement.

The doors are bi-fold, which means each side folds in half and then swings out. When they’re open, they sit fairly tight to the brick, so they don’t stick out into the room much. That’s handy if your hearth is shallow or you have furniture fairly close. The glass opens to about 180°, so you can get a full view of the fire when you want it wide open. The 4-inch handles are easy enough to grab, even with a log glove on, and they don’t get ridiculously hot as long as you’re not reaching right through flames.

There’s also an air control slide at the bottom. In practice, it’s a simple slider that lets in more or less air when the doors are closed. It’s not some precise thermostat or anything, but you can feel a difference in how fast the fire burns when you close it down a bit. The mesh screen is standard pull curtains, which you can close if you want to burn with the glass doors open for more heat, but still block sparks. It’s basic, but it’s what most people expect.

Visually, once installed, the frame sits against the brick and covers up some of the rough edges around the opening. If your brickwork is chipped or uneven, this hides a lot of that. The black finish works with most brick colors, especially if you’ve painted your fireplace or have darker stone. If you’re into shiny finishes or decorative scrollwork, you’ll probably find this a bit boring. Personally, I was going for “clean and not ugly,” and on that front it does the job very well.

The frame is made of cold rolled steel with a black powder-coated finish. In hand, it feels like medium-gauge steel: not super thick, but not flimsy sheet metal either. When you tap it, it doesn’t ring like a tin can, and once it’s clamped to the brick it feels stable. I’ve bumped it with a log once or twice while loading wood and it didn’t dent or scratch immediately, which is a good sign for normal home use.

The glass is 3/16-inch tempered clear glass. That’s pretty standard in fireplace doors at this price. It’s not tinted or anything, so you get a clear view of the fire. After a few fires, soot buildup is about what you’d expect: the lower part of the glass gets a bit cloudy if your wood isn’t perfectly dry, but it wipes off with basic glass cleaner and a bit of effort. I haven’t seen any warping or weird discoloration so far. Tempered glass is made to handle heat, and this thickness is fairly common, so I’m not concerned about that part.

The mesh curtain behind the glass is also decent. It’s not super heavy chainmail or anything, but it’s fine for stopping sparks and small embers. The track it slides on is smooth enough; it doesn’t feel like it’s going to jam immediately. The handles are metal as well, with enough length (about 4 inches) to grab easily. They feel secure and don’t wobble, which matters when you’re opening hot doors.

The only place where the materials feel a bit “budget” is some of the interior brackets and the insulation strip. The foam strip is just basic adhesive-backed insulation, the kind you could buy in a roll at a hardware store. It works, but it’s nothing special. Also, as some Amazon reviews mention, a few people didn’t even get the insulation in the box, which is more of a packing issue than a material issue, but still annoying. Overall, for the price point, the materials are pretty solid: not premium, but not cheap junk either. It feels like something that should hold up well under normal fireplace use.

I haven’t had this for years, but based on a few weeks of use and the way it’s built, I’d say the durability looks decent. The hinges feel tight and don’t wobble when you swing the doors repeatedly. The bifold joints don’t feel like they’re going to loosen up immediately. I’ve opened and closed the doors a bunch of times during each fire, and nothing is scraping or grinding or catching strangely.

The powder-coated finish has held up well so far. I’ve brushed it with a metal poker and a log once or twice by accident, and I didn’t see any obvious scratches down to bare metal. Over a few seasons, I’d expect some wear, especially on the lower part near the hearth where ash and tools hit, but that’s normal. The black color hides minor marks pretty well. If you’re extremely picky about cosmetics, you’ll probably notice every little scuff, but for a normal household, it’s fine.

The glass is tempered, so it’s made to deal with heat and the occasional bump. I’ve closed the doors with a bit more force than I meant to a couple of times, and there’s no sign of cracks or chips. As long as you’re not slamming them or hitting them directly with logs, they should last. Cleaning them carefully with a non-abrasive cleaner will also help avoid scratches over time. The mesh curtain looks like it’ll outlast the frame, honestly—it’s simple and doesn’t have any complex parts to fail.

The only durability concern I can see long-term is the insulation strip. It’s just adhesive foam, and over time with heat and dust, that stuff tends to dry out or peel. The good news is it’s easy to replace with generic fireplace gasket or foam tape if it does fail. So even if that part ages badly, it’s not the end of the world. Overall, nothing about this setup screams “cheap temporary fix.” It feels like something you install once and maybe touch up or re-gasket in a few years, but not something you’re constantly fighting with.

Performance-wise, I look at three things: heat feel in the room, how the fire behaves with the doors and air control, and how easy it is to live with over time. With the doors open and just the mesh closed, you get the most heat into the room, same as with any open fireplace. When you close the glass doors, you still feel warmth, but it’s more gentle. So if you’re expecting these doors to push more heat out than an open fireplace, that’s not how this works. They’re more about control and safety than raw heat output.

The air control slide at the bottom does make a difference. Open it up and the fire burns a bit faster and more aggressively. Slide it close and the fire slows down, and the wood seems to last a bit longer. It’s not super precise, but you can use it to keep a steady burn without constantly fiddling with the doors. I like that you can leave the doors closed and just tweak the airflow instead of cracking a door open and letting smoke sneak into the room.

Day to day, the bifold doors opening 180° is actually pretty handy. When I’m loading wood or poking the fire, I can fold the doors back and they’re mostly out of the way. They don’t swing out into the room like big cabinet doors, so you’re less likely to bump into them. The tracks are also “track-free” in the sense that there’s nothing on the floor of the opening to collect ash, which makes cleanup easier. Ash just falls where it always did inside the firebox.

On the downside, the glass does get dirty, especially if your wood isn’t well seasoned. After a few fires, you’ll see a film build up on the lower half of the doors. That’s normal, but it means you’ll be cleaning the glass now and then if you care about the view. Also, these doors don’t fix a weak chimney draft—if your fireplace smokes into the room already, this won’t magically solve that. Overall, the performance is solid: it behaves like a decent set of fireplace doors should, with no weird surprises.

The Pleasant Hearth Ascot Small comes as one pre-assembled frame with the doors already attached, plus the mounting hardware and insulation. At least, that’s how it’s supposed to come. Mine had the insulation strip and instructions in the box, but I did notice some Amazon reviews saying their foam or instructions were missing, so quality control on packing seems a bit hit-or-miss. If you get unlucky, you might have to improvise with your own insulation tape from the hardware store.

The frame itself is a cold rolled steel unit with a black powder-coated finish. It’s not some ultra-thick tank of steel, but it doesn’t feel flimsy either. The whole thing weighs around 40 pounds, which is enough that it feels stable once installed, but light enough that you can maneuver it alone if you’re careful. The glass panels are 3/16 inch tempered clear glass, which is pretty standard for this kind of product. Nothing fancy, but it looks clean and does the job.

In terms of sizing, this is the small model, meant for firebox openings between about 30–37 inches wide and 22.5–29.5 inches high. That’s important: it’s only for masonry fireplaces, not prefab metal fireboxes. So if your fireplace has a metal box and a fake brick surround, this is probably not for you. I had a standard brick opening and it fit within the stated range just fine, though I did measure three times before ordering because sending this thing back would be annoying.

Inside the box, the instructions are on the basic side but readable. They’re not a glossy manual with big photos, more like straightforward line drawings and steps. If you’ve ever installed a TV wall mount or a curtain rod, this is roughly that level of complexity. So from a presentation standpoint: simple, no thrills, but functional. The only real risk is that some people seem to get missing insulation or paperwork, which is irritating but not a dealbreaker if you’re a bit resourceful.

In practice, the Ascot doors do what I wanted: they cut down drafts, make the fireplace look cleaner, and add a layer of safety. Before installing this, our fireplace felt like a cold air chute when there was no fire going, especially on windy days. With these doors closed and the insulation strip in place, that draft is noticeably reduced. It doesn’t turn your fireplace into a sealed window or anything, but the room feels less chilly when the fireplace isn’t in use.

During a fire, the doors open and close smoothly. I usually start the fire with the doors open and the mesh closed, then once it’s going well, I’ll close the glass doors and adjust the air control slide. With the doors closed, you still see the flames clearly, but the heat you feel in the room is a bit less direct, which is normal. If you want maximum heat, you can burn with the glass doors open and just use the mesh, but then you lose some of the safety and draft control benefits.

In terms of safety, it’s a clear upgrade over a freestanding screen. Kids and pets can’t just knock it over, and sparks are much better contained. One of the reviewers mentioned replacing an outdated freestanding screen, and I’m in the same boat: this feels more secure and looks less cluttered. The handles are easy to use even when the fire is going, and the doors don’t feel like they’re going to sag or pop off the track.

It does not turn your fireplace into some super-efficient heating system. If that’s your goal, you’re looking at inserts and blowers, which is a different price range. This is more about tidying up the opening, adding a physical barrier, and cutting down obvious drafts. On that front, I’d say it’s effective. Not mind-blowing, but exactly what I expected for a set of glass doors at this price.