Watertown fireplace repair
Fireplace Repair? For Safety’s Sake, You Could Need a Fireplace Replacement
Many things can happen during construction of a Watertown home – not all wanted.
A new Watertown house has many working components. Some need very exacting installations to work safely and according to plan. Home builders, while skilled at many things, are hardly ever experts in the detailed installations of every mechanical part.
Enclosed fireplaces are a prime example. While desired for their comforting ambiance and effective space heating, wrong installation of fireplace inserts can generate hazards that threaten life and home: carbon monoxide leakage. Smoke backup. Live embers leaping onto outside surfaces.
Safety threats with a fireplace insert are often identified during a fireplace inspection and cleaning in Watertown. Periodically a fireplace repair is not possible. If the fireplace is compromised, a total fireplace replacement is needed.
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 working properly and your family safeguarded.
Safety issues can be found with both gas and wood-burning fireplaces. More regularly than not, the culprit is improper installation. Often an issue isn’t viewable 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 substituted with the duplicate manufacturer’s part. Aftermarket parts are infamous for causing issues such as smoke backup, or exhaust not drafting properly. If a fireplace sparks 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 automatically flagged as unsafe. If a fan stops functioning, replacement is not a choice. A degraded refractory panel has to be replaced.
In these examples, the complete fireplace system should be removed, along with the nearby façade. It’s a multi-day undertaking for professionals such as Butler Chimneys. The work creates an opportunity, though, for a homeowner to pursue improvements they might have already considered.
Many seize the opportunity 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 choose an open wood-burning fireplace, rather than enclosed. While a net negative for heat, this design has old-fashioned aesthetics that many find charming. An open fireplace is far less expensive, too – usually one-third the cost of a replacement insert.
The façade surrounding the fireplace can be completely 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 welcome feature in Watertown homes for a variety of reasons. Realistically, these benefits involve potential 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 installation wasn’t done correctly initially, doesn’t mean you have to co-exist with its risks.