South Milwaukee fireplace repair

Fireplace Repair? For Safety’s Sake, You Might Require a Fireplace Replacement

Many things can happen during building of a South Milwaukee home – not all desirable.

A new South Milwaukee residence has many working parts. Some involve very specific installations to operate safely and properly. House builders, while good at many things, are hardly ever experts in the detailed installations of every mechanical element.

Enclosed fireplaces are one example. While enjoyed for their cheery ambiance and efficient space heating, wrong installation of fireplace inserts can create risks that threaten life and home: carbon monoxide escaping. Smoke backup. Live embers leaping onto outside surfaces.

Safety concerns with a fireplace insert are often found during a fireplace inspection and cleaning in South Milwaukee. Periodically a fireplace repair is not workable. If the fireplace is compromised, a total fireplace replacement is necessitated.

Regular fireplace inspections are always advisable, for both safety and operational efficiency. Hiring a professional service such as Butler Chimneys, your fireplace and chimney inspection company in South Milwaukee, ensures that a fireplace is functioning correctly and your family safeguarded.

Safety problems can be revealed with both gas and wood-burning fireplaces. More regularly than not, the culprit is improper installation. Usually an issue isn’t noticeable from outside the fireplace – a closer look inside, by a trained eye, finds 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 infamous for creating issues such as smoke backup, or exhaust not drafting properly. If a fireplace causes a house fire, insurance benefits could be denied if substitute aftermarket parts were involved.

Often, though, conditions demand a total fireplace replacement. A box with rust is automatically marked as unsafe. If a fan stops operating, replacement is not a choice. A degraded refractory panel must be replaced.

In these situations, the complete fireplace system should be removed, along with the surrounding façade. It’s a multi-day undertaking for professionals such as Butler Chimneys. The project creates an opportunity, though, for a homeowner to institute improvements they might have already considered.

Many use the moment to transition from wood burning to gas. Though lacking the heat production of wood, gas is far more convenient (and less labor intensive) as fuel.

Others might opt for 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 buttressing the fireplace can be completely reworked, as well. Tile, stone or brick veneer, or composite wood are popular choices. 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 desirable feature in South Milwaukee homes for a variety of reasons. Realistically, these benefits entail 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 properly the first time, doesn’t mean you have to co-exist with its risks.