Ixonia fireplace repair
Fireplace Repair? For Safety’s Sake, You Could Need a Fireplace Replacement
Many things can occur during construction of a Ixonia house – not all wanted.
A new Ixonia home has myriad working components. Some need very specific installations to work safely and efficiently. Home builders, while good at many things, are rarely experts in the precise installations of every mechanical element.
Enclosed fireplaces are a prime example. While welcomed for their comfy ambiance and efficient space heating, wrong installation of fireplace inserts can cause risks that threaten life and home: carbon monoxide escaping. Smoke backup. Live embers leaping onto outside surfaces.
Safety problems with a fireplace insert are often found during a fireplace inspection and cleaning in Ixonia. Periodically a fireplace repair is not workable. If the fireplace is compromised, a complete fireplace replacement is needed.
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 Ixonia, ensures that a fireplace is working correctly and your family protected.
Safety issues can be discovered with both gas and wood-burning fireplaces. More regularly than not, the culprit is incorrect installation. Usually a problem 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 replaced, it must be swapped out with the exact manufacturer’s part. Aftermarket parts are infamous for causing problems such as smoke backup, or exhaust not drafting properly. If a fireplace ignites a house fire, insurance benefits could be turned down if substitute aftermarket parts were involved.
Often, though, conditions demand a complete fireplace replacement. A box with rust is immediately marked as unsafe. If a fan stops operating, replacement is not an option. A degraded refractory panel must be replaced.
In these cases, the entire fireplace system should be taken out, along with the surrounding façade. It’s a multi-day undertaking for professionals such as Butler Chimneys. The project creates a window, though, for a homeowner to institute improvements they might have already considered.
Many seize the moment to change over from wood burning to gas. Though without the heat generation of wood, gas is far more user friendly (and less labor intensive) as fuel.
Others might opt for an open wood-burning fireplace, rather than enclosed. While a net negative for warmth, this design has traditional aesthetics that many find comforting. An open fireplace is far less costly, too – usually one-third the cost of a replacement insert.
The façade buttressing the fireplace can be completely redesigned, too. Tile, stone or brick veneer, or composite wood are popular options. The hearth might be redone in limestone, tile, brick or stone. The mantle can be reworked to look like steel or wood.
Fireplaces are a desirable feature in Ixonia homes for multiple reasons. Realistically, these benefits carry possible hazards that shouldn’t be ignored. So don’t – contact Butler Chimneys for fireplace and chimney inspection and cleaning and, if needed, changing a fireplace insert. Just because work wasn’t done correctly initially, doesn’t mean you have to co-exist with its risks.