Cedar Lake fireplace repair
Fireplace Repair? For Safety’s Sake, You Could Require a Fireplace Replacement
Many things can happen during erection of a Cedar Lake home – not all desirable.
A new Cedar Lake house has myriad working components. Some need very detailed installations to operate safely and efficiently. House builders, while proficient at many things, are rarely experts in the precise installations of every mechanical element.
Enclosed fireplaces are a prime example. While enjoyed for their cheery ambiance and effective space heating, wrong installation of fireplace inserts can cause hazards that threaten life and home: carbon monoxide escaping. Smoke backup. Live embers leaping onto outside surfaces.
Safety risks with a fireplace insert are often uncovered during a fireplace inspection and cleaning in Cedar Lake. Sometimes a fireplace repair is not possible. If the fireplace is compromised, a complete fireplace replacement is necessitated.
Regular 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 Cedar Lake, ensures that a fireplace is operating properly and your family protected.
Safety problems can be revealed with both gas and wood-burning fireplaces. More often than not, the culprit is incorrect installation. Typically a problem isn’t viewable 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 substituted with the exact manufacturer’s part. Aftermarket parts are infamous for generating issues such as smoke backup, or exhaust not drafting properly. If a fireplace causes a house fire, insurance coverage could be denied if substitute aftermarket parts were involved.
Often, though, conditions demand a complete fireplace replacement. A box with rust is immediately flagged as unsafe. If a fan stops functioning, replacement is not a choice. A degraded refractory panel must be replaced.
In these instances, the complete fireplace system should be removed, 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 institute improvements they might have already considered.
Many seize the moment to convert from wood burning to gas. Though without the heat generation of wood, gas is far more convenient (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 – typically one-third the price of a replacement insert.
The façade buttressing the fireplace can be totally reworked, as well. Tile, stone or brick veneer, or composite wood are popular selections. 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 welcome feature in Cedar Lake homes for a variety of reasons. Realistically, these benefits entail potential hazards that shouldn’t be neglected. 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 right the first time, doesn’t mean you have to co-exist with its risks.