Local fireplace repair and service in Boggy Creek

What we look at on a fireplace service call

A fireplace service call starts with the same walk-through whatever brought us out. It gives our technician a baseline and keeps small faults from being missed while attention goes to the one you called about.

We also note the fireplace type, any label or model information and signs of past repairs. Everything goes into writing, with the item you asked about at the top. Parts that are sound are marked sound, so you know what was checked and not only what needs money spent on it. That record also gives next year's visit a starting point.

• Firebox walls, floor and joints, or the panels in a factory-built unit
• The damper, its handle and how far it opens
• The hearth, the facing and the trim around the opening
• Doors, screen, grate and the ash dump where fitted

Loose tile or stone around the opening

The facing around the opening takes fire heat on one edge and room temperature a short distance away. Tiles and stone set there can loosen, crack at the corners or drop out, and a setting material that was never meant for heat makes that more likely.

A loose piece near the opening is more than a cosmetic flaw. It can fall onto the hearth or into the fire, and the gap it leaves exposes whatever sits behind the face.

Our crew removes loose pieces, checks the backing and resets the facing in material suited to that spot. Masonry fireplaces and factory-built units have different rules for what may sit at the edge of the opening, so the code or the model's manual is checked first. The estimate for your Boggy Creek home lists each area of the face and the setting material used.

Smoke alarms tested once a month

NFPA heating safety tips say to test smoke alarms at least once a month. The room with the fireplace, the hallway outside it and the bedrooms nearby are where a working alarm earns its keep.

Testing takes the press of a button. Replace batteries or whole alarms as the alarm maker directs, and resist taking an alarm down because it sounds when the fireplace is lit. An alarm that sounds during every fire may mean smoke is leaving the fireplace the wrong way. If smoke fills the room, get everyone out and call 911 from outside.

During visits to homes in Boggy Creek, our technicians note the nearest alarms and mention any that seem to be missing. Where alarms have reacted to past fires, the cause is traced at the fireplace and the repair is written up with it. The alarm note sits on the same written record, so nothing gets lost between the two.

Electric units get their own repair visit

Nothing burns in an electric fireplace, so what goes wrong is electrical or mechanical. Flames that go dark, a heater that blows cold air, a remote that stopped responding or a display showing a code are handled by our electric fireplace repair service, working from the maker's instructions.

One rule applies before any visit. Dimplex, as one maker's example, tells owners to plug the unit directly into a wall outlet, never into an extension cord or power strip, and not to run it with a damaged cord or plug. A unit that has been running on a cord should be moved to a wall outlet.

When an electric insert sits in an old masonry opening, the opening itself can still need fireplace repair, such as a loose facing or a cracked hearth. Our technicians in Boggy Creek write the fireplace items and the electric unit items as separate lines.