Greendale fireplace repair
Fireplace Repair? For Safety’s Sake, You Might Require a Fireplace Replacement
Many things can occur during erection of a Greendale home – not all desirable.
A new Greendale house has many working parts. Some require very detailed installations to operate safely and efficiently. Home builders, while proficient at many things, are hardly ever experts in the detailed installations of every mechanical element.
Enclosed fireplaces are a prime example. While welcomed for their comfy ambiance and efficient room heating, incorrect installation of fireplace inserts can cause hazards that threaten life and home: carbon monoxide leakage. Smoke backup. Live embers escaping onto outside surfaces.
Safety concerns with a fireplace insert are often discovered during a fireplace inspection and cleaning in Greendale. Occasionally a fireplace repair is not workable. If the fireplace is compromised, a complete fireplace replacement is necessitated.
Regular fireplace inspections are always recommended, for both safety and operational efficiency. Hiring an expert such as Butler Chimneys, your fireplace and chimney inspection company in Greendale, ensures that a fireplace is working properly and your family protected.
Safety concerns can be found with both gas and wood-burning fireplaces. More regularly than not, the source is incorrect installation. Often an issue 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 duplicate manufacturer’s part. Aftermarket parts are notorious for creating issues such as smoke backup, or exhaust not drafting properly. If a fireplace sparks 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 immediately identified as unsafe. If a fan stops working, 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 institute improvements they might have already thought about.
Many seize the moment to transition 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 minus 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 majorly redesigned, as well. Tile, stone or brick veneer, or composite wood are popular options. 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 desirable feature in Greendale homes for many reasons. Realistically, these benefits come with 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 work wasn’t done correctly the first time, doesn’t mean you have to live with its risks.