Greendale fireplace repair
Fireplace Repair? For Safety’s Sake, You Could Need a Fireplace Replacement
Many things can occur during erection of a Greendale house – not all good.
A new Greendale home has multiple working elements. Some need very detailed installations to operate safely and according to plan. House builders, while skilled at many things, are often not experts in the detailed installations of every mechanical component.
Enclosed fireplaces are one example. While enjoyed for their comforting ambiance and efficient room heating, wrong installation of fireplace inserts can generate 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 identified during a fireplace inspection and cleaning in Greendale. Sometimes a fireplace repair is not possible. If the fireplace is compromised, a complete 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 Greendale, ensures that a fireplace is working correctly and your family safeguarded.
Safety problems can be uncovered with both gas and wood-burning fireplaces. More often than not, the source is incorrect installation. Often a problem isn’t obvious 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 duplicate manufacturer’s part. Aftermarket parts are notorious for creating problems such as smoke backup, or exhaust not drafting correctly. If a fireplace sparks a house fire, insurance coverage could be denied if substitute aftermarket parts were used.
Often, though, conditions merit a total fireplace replacement. A box with rust is automatically flagged as unsafe. If a fan stops working, replacement is not a choice. A degraded refractory panel must be replaced.
In these examples, the entire fireplace system should be uninstalled, along with the surrounding façade. It’s a multi-day process for professionals such as Butler Chimneys. The work creates a window, though, for a homeowner to make improvements they might have already thought about.
Many use the opportunity to change over from wood burning to gas. Though lacking 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 heat, this design has old-fashioned aesthetics that many find charming. An open fireplace is far less pricey, too – usually one-third the price of a replacement insert.
The façade around the fireplace can be completely reworked, 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 resemble steel or wood.
Fireplaces are a welcome feature in Greendale homes for a variety of reasons. Realistically, these benefits come with 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 properly initially, doesn’t mean you have to co-exist with its risks.