Helenville fireplace repair
Fireplace Repair? For Safety’s Sake, You Could Need a Fireplace Replacement
Many things can transpire during erection of a Helenville home – not all good.
A new Helenville home has many working components. Some require very detailed installations to function safely and properly. Home builders, while skilled at many things, are often not experts in the precise installations of every mechanical element.
Enclosed fireplaces are often one. While enjoyed for their comfy ambiance and effective room heating, incorrect installation of fireplace inserts can create hazards that threaten life and home: carbon monoxide escaping. Smoke backup. Live embers leaping onto outside surfaces.
Safety concerns with a fireplace insert are often uncovered during a fireplace inspection and cleaning in Helenville. Periodically a fireplace repair is not possible. If the fireplace is compromised, a complete fireplace replacement is required.
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 Helenville, ensures that a fireplace is working properly and your family protected.
Safety problems can be uncovered with both gas and wood-burning fireplaces. More often than not, the culprit is incorrect installation. Normally a problem isn’t viewable 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 changed, it must be swapped out with the exact manufacturer’s part. Aftermarket parts are infamous for causing problems such as smoke backup, or exhaust not drafting correctly. If a fireplace causes a house fire, insurance benefits could be turned down if substitute aftermarket parts were involved.
Often, though, conditions require a total fireplace replacement. A box with rust is automatically flagged as unsafe. If a fan stops functioning, replacement is not an option. A degraded refractory panel has to 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 project creates an opportunity, though, for a homeowner to make improvements they might have already considered.
Many use the opportunity 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 select an open wood-burning fireplace, rather than enclosed. While a net negative for warmth, this design has traditional aesthetics that many find comforting. An open fireplace is far less expensive, too – usually one-third the price of a replacement insert.
The façade surrounding the fireplace can be totally redesigned, 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 welcome feature in Helenville homes for a variety of reasons. Realistically, these benefits entail possible 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 work wasn’t done properly initially, doesn’t mean you have to co-exist with its risks.