Many things can happen during building of a Duplainville home – not all welcome.
A new Duplainville house has many working parts. Some need very specific installations to work safely and according to plan. Home builders, while skilled at many things, are hardly ever experts in the precise installations of every mechanical component.
Enclosed fireplaces are often one. While welcomed for their cheery ambiance and effective room heating, wrong installation of fireplace inserts can create hazards that threaten life and home: carbon monoxide leakage. Smoke backup. Live embers flying onto outside surfaces.
Safety risks with a fireplace insert are often revealed during a fireplace inspection and cleaning in Duplainville. Occasionally a fireplace repair is not feasible. If the fireplace is compromised, a total fireplace replacement is necessitated.
Regular fireplace inspections are always wise, for both safety and operational efficiency. Hiring an expert such as Butler Chimneys, your fireplace and chimney inspection company in Duplainville, ensures that a fireplace is operating properly and your loved ones safeguarded.
Safety concerns can be uncovered with both gas and wood-burning fireplaces. More often than not, the source is improper installation. Often an issue isn’t viewable from outside the fireplace – a closer look inside, by a trained eye, discovers a compromised joint, section or non-working part.
If a part can be changed, it must be swapped out with the exact manufacturer’s part. Aftermarket parts are notorious for creating problems such as smoke backup, or exhaust not drafting correctly. If a fireplace ignites a house fire, insurance benefits could be turned down if substitute aftermarket parts were used.
Often, though, conditions require a total fireplace replacement. A box with rust is immediately verified as unsafe. If a fan stops functioning, replacement is not an option. A degraded refractory panel must be replaced.
In these instances, the complete fireplace system should be removed, along with the surrounding façade. It’s a multi-day process for professionals such as Butler Chimneys. The work creates a window, though, for a homeowner to institute improvements they might have already thought about.
Many seize the moment to change over 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 choose an open wood-burning fireplace, rather than enclosed. While a net minus for heat, this design has traditional aesthetics that many find charming. An open fireplace is far less costly, too – typically one-third the price of a replacement insert.
The façade around the fireplace can be completely reworked, too. 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 wanted feature in Duplainville 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 live with its risks.