LH, I see what you mean. However, when they guys at our shop were putting in a gas insert to replace a wood, the venting had to be a proper vent, either natural or direct.

If whoever worked on the fireplace in Jenn's place merely put in a gas line, and then gas logs without the associated venting, it would sure give out crappy heat! So maybe that is what happened - it was a do-it-yourself job, which would be at the least not up to code.

Jenn - if your city or town government has an inspection section for gas and other installations, you might want to see if they have a record for what was done at your place. At the least - the fireplace gas line would have to be inspected in mots jurisdictions when it was newly installed.

Plumbing...I don't know anything about it, but the water pressure sounds lousy. Maybe not new pipes...but wonder if there is a way to clean the ones that are there? Might take some pressure cleaning with an anti-corrosive liquid, though I don't know if that is how pipes are cleaned, or eve if they can be.

Maybe get an estimate - my guess would be to replace main metal/iron pipes with PVC. How to find out if they are clogged, I don't know.

ETA: Found a good link on this: http://www.drainsandplumbing.com/waterpipes.html