Cedarburg fireplace repair
Fireplace Repair? For Safety’s Sake, You Might Require a Fireplace Replacement
Many things can happen during building of a Cedarburg house – not all desirable.
A new Cedarburg house has many working components. Some need very specific installations to work safely and efficiently. Home builders, while good at many things, are often not experts in the precise installations of every mechanical part.
Enclosed fireplaces are a prime example. While desired for their cheery ambiance and efficient space heating, wrong installation of fireplace inserts can cause hazards that threaten life and home: carbon monoxide leakage. Smoke backup. Live embers escaping onto outside surfaces.
Safety risks with a fireplace insert are often found during a fireplace inspection and cleaning in Cedarburg. Sometimes a fireplace repair is not possible. If the fireplace is compromised, a total fireplace replacement is necessitated.
Recurring fireplace inspections are always prudent, for both safety and operational efficiency. Hiring an expert such as Butler Chimneys, your fireplace and chimney inspection company in Cedarburg, ensures that a fireplace is operating properly and your family safeguarded.
Safety problems can be found with both gas and wood-burning fireplaces. More often than not, the reason is incorrect installation. Often a problem isn’t obvious from outside the fireplace – a closer inspection inside, by a trained eye, discovers a compromised joint, section or non-working part.
If a part can be changed, it must be substituted with the exact manufacturer’s part. Aftermarket parts are notorious for causing issues such as smoke backup, or exhaust not drafting correctly. If a fireplace causes a house fire, insurance coverage could be denied if substitute aftermarket parts were involved.
Often, though, conditions mandate a complete fireplace replacement. A box with rust is automatically identified as unsafe. If a fan stops operating, replacement is not a choice. A degraded refractory panel has to be replaced.
In these instances, the complete fireplace system should be uninstalled, along with the surrounding 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 considered.
Many use the opportunity to transition 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 choose 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 expensive, too – typically one-third the cost of a replacement insert.
The façade buttressing 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 resemble steel or wood.
Fireplaces are a desirable feature in Cedarburg homes for a variety of reasons. Realistically, these benefits carry 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 installation wasn’t done properly initially, doesn’t mean you have to co-exist with its risks.