Carrollville fireplace repair
Fireplace Repair? For Safety’s Sake, You Could Need a Fireplace Replacement
Many things can happen during building of a Carrollville house – not all wanted.
A new Carrollville house has myriad working components. Some involve very specific installations to function safely and properly. Home builders, while skilled at many things, are often not experts in the precise installations of every mechanical element.
Enclosed fireplaces are one example. While welcomed for their comfy ambiance and efficient room heating, wrong installation of fireplace inserts can generate hazards that threaten life and home: carbon monoxide escaping. Smoke backup. Live embers flying onto outside surfaces.
Safety risks with a fireplace insert are often found during a fireplace inspection and cleaning in Carrollville. Periodically a fireplace repair is not workable. If the fireplace is compromised, a complete fireplace replacement is necessitated.
Recurring fireplace inspections are always advisable, for both safety and operational efficiency. Hiring an expert such as Butler Chimneys, your fireplace and chimney inspection company in Carrollville, ensures that a fireplace is functioning correctly and your loved ones safeguarded.
Safety issues can be identified with both gas and wood-burning fireplaces. More often than not, the source is incorrect installation. Often an issue isn’t obvious from outside the fireplace – a closer inspection inside, by a trained eye, spots a compromised joint, section or non-working part.
If a part can be replaced, it must be substituted with the exact manufacturer’s part. Aftermarket parts are notorious for causing problems 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 demand a total fireplace replacement. A box with rust is automatically verified as unsafe. If a fan stops operating, replacement is not an option. A degraded refractory panel has to be replaced.
In these situations, the complete fireplace system should be removed, along with the surrounding façade. It’s a multi-day process for professionals such as Butler Chimneys. The project creates an opportunity, though, for a homeowner to pursue improvements they might have already thought about.
Many use the opportunity to change over from wood burning to gas. Though without the heat production 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 heat, this design has old-fashioned aesthetics that many find comforting. An open fireplace is far less costly, too – typically one-third the cost of a replacement insert.
The façade surrounding the fireplace can be completely reworked, too. 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 wanted feature in Carrollville homes for many reasons. Realistically, these benefits come with 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 right the first time, doesn’t mean you have to co-exist with its risks.