Oak Hill fireplace repair
Fireplace Repair? For Safety’s Sake, You Could Need a Fireplace Replacement
Many things can occur during building of a Oak Hill house – not all welcome.
A new Oak Hill home has many working parts. Some involve very detailed installations to work safely and efficiently. Home builders, while skilled at many things, are not always experts in the detailed installations of every mechanical element.
Enclosed fireplaces are a prime example. While desired for their comforting ambiance and efficient room heating, incorrect installation of fireplace inserts can create hazards that threaten life and home: carbon monoxide leakage. Smoke backup. Live embers leaping onto outside surfaces.
Safety issues with a fireplace insert are often discovered during a fireplace inspection and cleaning in Oak Hill. Periodically a fireplace repair is not workable. If the fireplace is compromised, a total fireplace replacement is necessitated.
Recurring fireplace inspections are always wise, for both safety and operational efficiency. Hiring an expert such as Butler Chimneys, your fireplace and chimney inspection company in Oak Hill, ensures that a fireplace is working properly and your loved ones protected.
Safety problems can be discovered with both gas and wood-burning fireplaces. More often than not, the culprit is improper installation. Typically an issue isn’t noticeable from outside the fireplace – a closer inspection inside, by a trained eye, identifies 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 notorious for causing issues such as smoke backup, or exhaust not drafting correctly. If a fireplace causes a house fire, insurance coverage could be turned down if substitute aftermarket parts were involved.
Often, though, conditions require a complete fireplace replacement. A box with rust is immediately verified as unsafe. If a fan stops operating, replacement is not a choice. A degraded refractory panel must be replaced.
In these examples, the complete 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 make improvements they might have already considered.
Many seize the moment to transition from wood burning to gas. Though without the heat production of wood, gas is far more convenient (and less labor intensive) as fuel.
Others might opt for 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 cost of a replacement insert.
The façade buttressing the fireplace can be majorly reworked, as well. Tile, stone or brick veneer, or composite wood are popular selections. The hearth might be redone in limestone, tile, brick or stone. The mantle can be reworked to resemble steel or wood.
Fireplaces are a desirable feature in Oak Hill homes for many reasons. Realistically, these benefits involve possible hazards that shouldn’t be overlooked. 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.