Watertown fireplace repair
Fireplace Repair? For Safety’s Sake, You Could Require a Fireplace Replacement
Many things can transpire during construction of a Watertown home – not all welcome.
A new Watertown home has myriad working parts. Some involve very detailed installations to work safely and properly. 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 enjoyed for their comfy ambiance and effective room heating, improper installation of fireplace inserts can create hazards that threaten life and home: carbon monoxide escaping. Smoke backup. Live embers escaping onto outside surfaces.
Safety issues with a fireplace insert are often discovered during a fireplace inspection and cleaning in Watertown. Sometimes a fireplace repair is not possible. If the fireplace is compromised, a total fireplace replacement is required.
Recurring fireplace inspections are always prudent, for both safety and operational efficiency. Hiring a professional service such as Butler Chimneys, your fireplace and chimney inspection company in Watertown, ensures that a fireplace is functioning correctly and your family safeguarded.
Safety threats can be uncovered with both gas and wood-burning fireplaces. More regularly than not, the cause is improper installation. Often an issue isn’t obvious from outside the fireplace – a closer check inside, by a trained eye, identifies 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 notorious for creating issues such as smoke backup, or exhaust not drafting correctly. If a fireplace sparks a house fire, insurance coverage could be turned down if substitute aftermarket parts were involved.
Often, though, conditions mandate a complete fireplace replacement. A box with rust is automatically marked as unsafe. If a fan stops working, replacement is not an option. A degraded refractory panel must be replaced.
In these cases, the entire fireplace system should be uninstalled, 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 pursue improvements they might have already considered.
Many grab the moment to convert 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 select an open wood-burning fireplace, rather than enclosed. While a net negative for warmth, this design has traditional aesthetics that many find charming. An open fireplace is far less expensive, too – typically one-third the price of a replacement insert.
The façade surrounding the fireplace can be majorly redesigned, too. 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 look like steel or wood.
Fireplaces are a wanted feature in Watertown homes for multiple reasons. Realistically, these benefits involve potential 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 work wasn’t done properly initially, doesn’t mean you have to co-exist with its risks.