Breezy Knoll fireplace repair

Fireplace Repair? For Safety’s Sake, You Could Need a Fireplace Replacement

Many things can happen during construction of a Breezy Knoll residence – not all good.

A new Breezy Knoll house has many working elements. Some require very exacting installations to operate safely and efficiently. House builders, while skilled at many things, are rarely experts in the precise installations of every mechanical part.

Enclosed fireplaces are one example. While welcomed for their cheery ambiance and effective room heating, wrong installation of fireplace inserts can create risks that threaten life and home: carbon monoxide escaping. Smoke backup. Live embers flying onto outside surfaces.

Safety concerns with a fireplace insert are often uncovered during a fireplace inspection and cleaning in Breezy Knoll. Occasionally a fireplace repair is not possible. If the fireplace is compromised, a complete fireplace replacement is necessitated.

Regular fireplace inspections are always recommended, for both safety and operational efficiency. Hiring an expert such as Butler Chimneys, your fireplace and chimney inspection company in Breezy Knoll, ensures that a fireplace is operating correctly and your loved ones protected.

Safety threats can be uncovered with both gas and wood-burning fireplaces. More often than not, the culprit is improper installation. Often an issue isn’t noticeable from outside the fireplace – a closer check inside, by a trained eye, finds a compromised joint, section or non-working part.

If a part can be changed, it must be swapped out with the duplicate manufacturer’s part. Aftermarket parts are infamous for generating issues such as smoke backup, or exhaust not drafting properly. If a fireplace ignites a house fire, insurance benefits could be denied if substitute aftermarket parts were used.

Often, though, conditions require a complete fireplace replacement. A box with rust is immediately marked as unsafe. If a fan stops working, replacement is not an option. A degraded refractory panel has to be replaced.

In these situations, the entire fireplace system should be removed, along with the surrounding façade. It’s a multi-day undertaking for professionals such as Butler Chimneys. The work creates a window, though, for a homeowner to institute improvements they might have already thought about.

Many grab the moment to transition from wood burning to gas. Though lacking the heat production of wood, gas is far more user friendly (and less labor intensive) as fuel.

Others might choose an open wood-burning fireplace, rather than enclosed. While a net minus for warmth, this design has old-fashioned aesthetics that many find comforting. An open fireplace is far less expensive, too – typically one-third the price of a replacement insert.

The façade around the fireplace can be completely reworked, as well. Tile, stone or brick veneer, or composite wood are popular options. The hearth might be reimagined in limestone, tile, brick or stone. The mantle can be reworked to look like steel or wood.

Fireplaces are a desirable feature in Breezy Knoll homes for a variety of reasons. Realistically, these benefits entail possible hazards that shouldn’t be neglected. So don’t – contact Butler Chimneys for fireplace and chimney inspection and cleaning and, if needed, changing a fireplace insert. Just because something wasn’t done correctly the first time, doesn’t mean you have to co-exist with its risks.