Carrollville fireplace repair
Fireplace Repair? For Safety’s Sake, You Might Need a Fireplace Replacement
Many things can occur during construction of a Carrollville home – not all welcome.
A new Carrollville residence has multiple working elements. Some need very exacting installations to function safely and according to plan. House builders, while proficient at many things, are often not experts in the detailed installations of every mechanical part.
Enclosed fireplaces are often one. While welcomed for their comfy ambiance and effective space heating, wrong installation of fireplace inserts can cause risks that threaten life and home: carbon monoxide escaping. Smoke backup. Live embers leaping onto outside surfaces.
Safety threats with a fireplace insert are often found during a fireplace inspection and cleaning in Carrollville. Periodically a fireplace repair is not feasible. If the fireplace is compromised, a complete fireplace replacement is needed.
Recurring fireplace inspections are always prudent, for both safety and operational efficiency. Hiring a professional service such as Butler Chimneys, your fireplace and chimney inspection company in Carrollville, ensures that a fireplace is functioning correctly and your loved ones safeguarded.
Safety concerns can be revealed with both gas and wood-burning fireplaces. More regularly than not, the cause is improper installation. Usually 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 swapped out with the duplicate manufacturer’s part. Aftermarket parts are notorious for creating issues such as smoke backup, or exhaust not drafting correctly. If a fireplace ignites a house fire, insurance coverage could be turned down if substitute aftermarket parts were involved.
Often, though, conditions merit a total fireplace replacement. A box with rust is automatically verified as unsafe. If a fan stops working, replacement is not a choice. A degraded refractory panel must be replaced.
In these situations, the entire fireplace system should be removed, along with the nearby façade. It’s a multi-day undertaking for professionals such as Butler Chimneys. The work creates a window, though, for a homeowner to pursue improvements they might have already thought about.
Many grab the moment to change over from wood burning to gas. Though without 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 charming. An open fireplace is far less costly, too – typically one-third the cost of a replacement insert.
The façade surrounding the fireplace can be majorly redesigned, too. 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 resemble steel or wood.
Fireplaces are a desirable feature in Carrollville homes for many reasons. Realistically, these benefits involve 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 installation wasn’t done right the first time, doesn’t mean you have to live with its risks.