Shorewood fireplace repair
Fireplace Repair? For Safety’s Sake, You Could Require a Fireplace Replacement
Many things can occur during construction of a Shorewood residence – not all good.
A new Shorewood home has myriad working components. Some require very specific installations to work safely and properly. Home builders, while good at many things, are rarely experts in the detailed 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 cause risks that threaten life and home: carbon monoxide leakage. Smoke backup. Live embers leaping onto outside surfaces.
Safety concerns with a fireplace insert are often found during a fireplace inspection and cleaning in Shorewood. Periodically a fireplace repair is not feasible. If the fireplace is compromised, a complete fireplace replacement is needed.
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 Shorewood, ensures that a fireplace is operating properly and your family protected.
Safety problems can be discovered with both gas and wood-burning fireplaces. More often than not, the source is improper installation. Usually an issue isn’t noticeable from outside the fireplace – a closer check 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 infamous for creating issues 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 complete fireplace replacement. A box with rust is automatically flagged as unsafe. If a fan stops operating, replacement is not a choice. A degraded refractory panel has to be replaced.
In these instances, the total fireplace system should be taken out, along with the surrounding façade. It’s a multi-day process for professionals such as Butler Chimneys. The project creates a window, though, for a homeowner to make improvements they might have already thought about.
Many grab the opportunity to change over from wood burning to gas. Though lacking the heat production of wood, gas is far more user friendly (and less labor intensive) as fuel.
Others might opt for an open wood-burning fireplace, rather than enclosed. While a net negative for heat, this design has old-fashioned aesthetics that many find comforting. An open fireplace is far less pricey, too – typically one-third the price of a replacement insert.
The façade around the fireplace can be majorly 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 Shorewood homes for many 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 the first time, doesn’t mean you have to live with its risks.