Ottawa fireplace repair
Fireplace Repair? For Safety’s Sake, You Might Require a Fireplace Replacement
Many things can occur during building of a Ottawa home – not all welcome.
A new Ottawa house has myriad working parts. Some require very exacting installations to work safely and properly. Home builders, while skilled at many things, are often not experts in the precise installations of every mechanical element.
Enclosed fireplaces are a prime example. While desired for their comfy ambiance and effective room heating, incorrect installation of fireplace inserts can generate risks that threaten life and home: carbon monoxide escaping. Smoke backup. Live embers escaping onto outside surfaces.
Safety issues with a fireplace insert are often identified during a fireplace inspection and cleaning in Ottawa. Periodically a fireplace repair is not feasible. If the fireplace is compromised, a complete fireplace replacement is necessitated.
Recurring fireplace inspections are always wise, for both safety and operational efficiency. Hiring a professional service such as Butler Chimneys, your fireplace and chimney inspection company in Ottawa, ensures that a fireplace is working properly and your loved ones protected.
Safety problems can be uncovered with both gas and wood-burning fireplaces. More often than not, the reason is improper installation. Often a problem isn’t viewable from outside the fireplace – a closer inspection inside, by a trained eye, finds a compromised joint, section or non-working part.
If a part can be replaced, it must be swapped out with the exact manufacturer’s part. Aftermarket parts are notorious for causing issues such as smoke backup, or exhaust not drafting properly. If a fireplace sparks a house fire, insurance benefits could be denied if substitute aftermarket parts were used.
Often, though, conditions merit a complete fireplace replacement. A box with rust is automatically marked as unsafe. If a fan stops working, replacement is not a choice. A degraded refractory panel has to be replaced.
In these situations, the entire fireplace system should be removed, along with the surrounding façade. It’s a multi-day undertaking for professionals such as Butler Chimneys. The work creates a window, though, for a homeowner to institute improvements they might have already thought about.
Many seize 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 select an open wood-burning fireplace, rather than enclosed. While a net minus for warmth, this design has old-fashioned aesthetics that many find comforting. An open fireplace is far less pricey, too – usually one-third the price of a replacement insert.
The façade surrounding the fireplace can be majorly redesigned, too. Tile, stone or brick veneer, or composite wood are popular choices. The hearth might be reimagined in limestone, tile, brick or stone. The mantle can be reworked to resemble steel or wood.
Fireplaces are a welcome feature in Ottawa homes for many 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 something wasn’t done correctly initially, doesn’t mean you have to live with its risks.