Ozaukee County fireplace repair

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

Many things can transpire during building of a Ozaukee County house – not all wanted.

A new Ozaukee County house has many working components. Some require very detailed installations to function safely and according to plan. Home builders, while good at many things, are often not experts in the detailed installations of every mechanical element.

Enclosed fireplaces are often one. While welcomed for their comforting ambiance and efficient space heating, improper installation of fireplace inserts can generate risks that threaten life and home: carbon monoxide escaping. Smoke backup. Live embers escaping onto outside surfaces.

Safety problems with a fireplace insert are often found during a fireplace inspection and cleaning in Ozaukee County. Sometimes a fireplace repair is not possible. 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 Ozaukee County, ensures that a fireplace is working correctly and your family protected.

Safety issues can be identified with both gas and wood-burning fireplaces. More often than not, the reason is improper installation. Often a problem isn’t obvious from outside the fireplace – a closer look 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 duplicate manufacturer’s part. Aftermarket parts are notorious for creating issues such as smoke backup, or exhaust not drafting properly. If a fireplace sparks a house fire, insurance coverage could be denied if substitute aftermarket parts were involved.

Often, though, conditions require a complete fireplace replacement. A box with rust is immediately verified as unsafe. If a fan stops operating, replacement is not a choice. A degraded refractory panel must be replaced.

In these instances, the entire fireplace system should be taken out, along with the nearby façade. It’s a multi-day undertaking 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 grab the opportunity to change over from wood burning to gas. Though not possessing 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 comforting. An open fireplace is far less costly, too – typically one-third the price of a replacement insert.

The façade around the fireplace can be majorly redesigned, as well. Tile, stone or brick veneer, or composite wood are popular options. 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 wanted feature in Ozaukee County homes for a variety of reasons. Realistically, these benefits carry potential 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 something wasn’t done properly the first time, doesn’t mean you have to live with its risks.