Oak Creek fireplace repair

Fireplace Repair? For Safety’s Sake, You Could Need a Fireplace Replacement

Many things can occur during erection of a Oak Creek residence – not all welcome.

A new Oak Creek house has many working parts. Some need very exacting installations to work safely and efficiently. Home builders, while skilled at many things, are often not experts in the precise installations of every mechanical part.

Enclosed fireplaces are one example. While desired for their comfy ambiance and effective room heating, incorrect installation of fireplace inserts can cause hazards that threaten life and home: carbon monoxide leakage. Smoke backup. Live embers flying onto outside surfaces.

Safety issues with a fireplace insert are often uncovered during a fireplace inspection and cleaning in Oak Creek. Occasionally a fireplace repair is not workable. If the fireplace is compromised, a complete fireplace replacement is necessitated.

Regular fireplace inspections are always recommended, for both safety and operational efficiency. Hiring a professional service such as Butler Chimneys, your fireplace and chimney inspection company in Oak Creek, ensures that a fireplace is operating correctly and your family protected.

Safety issues can be discovered with both gas and wood-burning fireplaces. More often than not, the culprit is incorrect installation. Often a problem isn’t viewable from outside the fireplace – a closer inspection inside, by a trained eye, finds 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 problems such as smoke backup, or exhaust not drafting correctly. If a fireplace sparks a house fire, insurance benefits could be turned down if substitute aftermarket parts were used.

Often, though, conditions mandate a total fireplace replacement. A box with rust is immediately marked as unsafe. If a fan stops working, replacement is not an option. A degraded refractory panel has to be replaced.

In these situations, the entire 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 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 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 traditional aesthetics that many find charming. An open fireplace is far less costly, too – usually one-third the cost of a replacement insert.

The façade surrounding the fireplace can be totally reworked, too. Tile, stone or brick veneer, or composite wood are popular choices. 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 desirable feature in Oak Creek homes for many reasons. Realistically, these benefits entail 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 work wasn’t done properly initially, doesn’t mean you have to live with its risks.