West Granville fireplace repair

Fireplace Repair? For Safety’s Sake, You Could Need a Fireplace Replacement

Many things can occur during erection of a West Granville home – not all good.

A new West Granville home has many working components. Some need very specific installations to function safely and efficiently. House builders, while proficient at many things, are often not experts in the precise installations of every mechanical component.

Enclosed fireplaces are often one. While welcomed for their cheery ambiance and efficient room heating, wrong installation of fireplace inserts can create 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 discovered during a fireplace inspection and cleaning in West Granville. Occasionally a fireplace repair is not feasible. If the fireplace is compromised, a complete fireplace replacement is needed.

Recurring 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 West Granville, ensures that a fireplace is working correctly and your family safeguarded.

Safety issues can be found with both gas and wood-burning fireplaces. More often than not, the source is incorrect installation. Often an issue isn’t noticeable 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 infamous for causing problems such as smoke backup, or exhaust not drafting properly. If a fireplace causes a house fire, insurance coverage could be denied if substitute aftermarket parts were used.

Often, though, conditions mandate a total fireplace replacement. A box with rust is automatically verified as unsafe. If a fan stops operating, replacement is not an option. A degraded refractory panel must be replaced.

In these cases, the total fireplace system should be removed, along with the nearby façade. It’s a multi-day undertaking for professionals such as Butler Chimneys. The project creates a window, though, for a homeowner to institute improvements they might have already considered.

Many grab the opportunity to change over from wood burning to gas. Though without the heat production of wood, gas is far more user friendly (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 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 completely redesigned, too. 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 resemble steel or wood.

Fireplaces are a desirable feature in West Granville homes for a variety of reasons. Realistically, these benefits carry 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 correctly the first time, doesn’t mean you have to co-exist with its risks.