Metal fireplace and chimney repair in Bryn Mawr

Doors fully open or fully closed

Door habits matter on a prefab unit. One maker's manual says that while the fireplace is burning, glass doors must be fully opened or fully closed, because doors left partly open may draw flame out of the opening.

The same manual notes that a fireplace with glass doors has a limited air supply, and that too large a fire behind closed doors builds excessive heat. We go over those habits after any door repair so the new glass lasts.

The grate that belongs in the firebox

Fires in a factory-built fireplace sit on a grate, and one maker includes a grate sized to each model in its parts list. Its warranty for factory-built fireplaces is conditional on use of an adequate fuel grate.

A fire built straight on the floor panel, or a grate that pushes logs against the side panels, puts heat where the design did not expect it. We check the grate as part of every prefab repair.

• Grate sized to the model
• Logs kept off the side panels
• Retainers holding the grate in place

Earlier repairs with the wrong materials

Prefab fireplaces sometimes arrive at a repair visit carrying old fixes, such as a panel patched with mortar, a crack covered with cement, sheet metal screwed over a hole or a pipe section borrowed from another system.

We identify those repairs, explain why they fall outside the listing and replace them with listed parts where they are available. Old patches are removed carefully so the steel behind them can be checked.

• Mortar on panels
• Cement over cracks
• Sheet metal over holes
• Pipe from another system

Soft or stained framing in a chase

Water that gets into a chase can stain and soften the framing around the metal chimney and rust the parts inside. The chase framing and its siding are house repairs, separate from the fireplace system.

We note what we see in the chase, repair the listed fireplace and chimney parts that were affected and recommend the right trade for the framing. Each piece of the job gets its own line.

• Stains and soft framing noted
• Listed parts repaired
• Framing and siding referred to the right trade