Victory Center fireplace repair

Fireplace Repair? For Safety’s Sake, You Might Require a Fireplace Replacement

Many things can happen during building of a Victory Center house – not all good.

A new Victory Center home has multiple working elements. Some involve very detailed installations to operate safely and according to plan. Home builders, while skilled at many things, are not always experts in the precise installations of every mechanical element.

Enclosed fireplaces are a prime example. While enjoyed for their comforting ambiance and efficient space heating, wrong installation of fireplace inserts can cause hazards that threaten life and home: carbon monoxide escaping. Smoke backup. Live embers escaping onto outside surfaces.

Safety concerns with a fireplace insert are often revealed during a fireplace inspection and cleaning in Victory Center. Periodically a fireplace repair is not workable. If the fireplace is compromised, a total fireplace replacement is necessitated.

Regular fireplace inspections are always advisable, for both safety and operational efficiency. Hiring an expert such as Butler Chimneys, your fireplace and chimney inspection company in Victory Center, ensures that a fireplace is working properly and your family protected.

Safety issues can be identified with both gas and wood-burning fireplaces. More often than not, the culprit is incorrect installation. Usually an issue isn’t viewable from outside the fireplace – a closer check inside, by a trained eye, spots 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 infamous for causing issues such as smoke backup, or exhaust not drafting correctly. If a fireplace ignites a house fire, insurance coverage could be denied if substitute aftermarket parts were involved.

Often, though, conditions require a total fireplace replacement. A box with rust is immediately flagged as unsafe. If a fan stops functioning, replacement is not an option. A degraded refractory panel must be replaced.

In these examples, the complete fireplace system should be uninstalled, along with the surrounding façade. It’s a multi-day undertaking for professionals such as Butler Chimneys. The project creates an opportunity, though, for a homeowner to pursue improvements they might have already considered.

Many seize the opportunity to convert from wood burning to gas. Though not possessing the heat production 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 traditional aesthetics that many find charming. An open fireplace is far less costly, too – usually one-third the cost of a replacement insert.

The façade buttressing the fireplace can be majorly reworked, as well. Tile, stone or brick veneer, or composite wood are popular selections. 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 Victory Center homes for a variety of reasons. Realistically, these benefits carry possible hazards that shouldn’t be overlooked. 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 properly initially, doesn’t mean you have to co-exist with its risks.