Your fireplace repair team in Lake Underhill

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

Old firebox patches made with the wrong material

Plenty of fireboxes have been patched before. Some patches are sound refractory work. Others are caulk, ordinary mortar, wall filler or a paint-on coating that closed a crack for a season, then cracked, crumbled or peeled away.

Firebrick belongs in medium-duty refractory mortar under the Florida Building Code, so a patch made with something else has to come out before a proper repair goes in. Left in place, it gives the new mortar a poor surface to grip, and the crack can return along the same line.

Old patches give themselves away by color, texture and how they respond to a probe. We cut them out with care for the brick around them. Spots where old patches have failed are marked on the estimate, which shows you why the repair covers more than the crack you first saw.

Hearth protection in front of a factory-built unit

A factory-built fireplace comes with its own rules for the floor in front of it. The Florida Building Code has its hearth extension installed as the fireplace listing directs, and it has to stand out clearly from the floor around it. Listed hearth extensions comply with UL 1618.

Trouble starts when new flooring runs right up to the opening, a hearth pad is removed during a remodel or tile that matches the floor makes the extension hard to see. The manual for the model sets the size and the materials, and those can differ from the rules for masonry fireplaces.

What is there gets measured against the manual and the listing. If the extension is missing, too small or blends into the floor, we write up a fix that follows the manual, whether that is a listed pad, a new border or a change of material. The measurements go on the estimate too.

Raised hearths that crack or pull loose

A raised hearth lifts the fire and gives the room a seat or a ledge. It is also a box of masonry or framing with a finish on top, and those parts can separate. Cracks along the front edge, a loose top slab or a gap where the hearth meets the wall are the signs to look for.

Hearths used as seats or steps take loads they may not have been built for. The Florida Building Code asks hearths to be reinforced to carry their own weight and all imposed loads, and a raised hearth that has settled or cracked is worth checking below the surface as well as on it.

Our crew checks what the raised hearth is built from and whether the top is still properly supported. For homes in Lake Underhill, the repair might be a new top slab, reset stone or a rebuilt edge, and each is written up with the materials named.