Cracked panels and worn fireplace parts fixed in Lake Eola Heights

Factory-built units lined with loose firebrick

Loose firebrick lines the steel walls of some factory-built fireplaces, set in the maker's pattern with its joint material and spacers. One maker's instructions cover that firebrick wall installation step by step, with wall spacers and grate retainers listed as parts.

When a brick in this kind of unit cracks or falls, the repair follows that maker's method and materials. We check the spacers and retainers along with the bricks, since a loose wall can lean toward the fire.

Replacing broken door glass

Door glass on a factory-built fireplace is tempered and sized to the maker's door frame. Chips at the edge and cracks across the pane mean the doors should stay out of use until the glass is replaced.

We order the replacement for your door model, fit it with its gasket or clips as designed and check that the doors swing and close the way they should afterward.

• Glass ordered for your door model
• Gasket or clips fitted as designed
• Door swing and closing checked

What stays away from the fireplace

Owner manuals for factory-built fireplaces carry a short safety list. One maker's list includes keeping gasoline and other flammable liquids away, keeping clothing and flammable materials off and away from the appliance, keeping furniture and drapes clear and never leaving children unattended while a fire is burning.

We mention these points again after a repair, because a new part is only as safe as the way the fireplace is used.

• Flammable liquids kept away
• Clothing and fabrics off the unit
• Furniture and drapes clear
• Children supervised near a fire

Smoke detectors near a fireplace

One maker recommends installing smoke detectors and suggests placing one in a hallway next to the fireplace room, to reduce false activation from the heat of the appliance, while following any local code that requires one in the same room.

Detectors sit outside the fireplace itself, yet they belong on any list of checks before the season. We remind you of them when we finish a repair.

• One in the hallway next to the fireplace room
• Any detector your local code requires in the room itself
• Regular testing