Cracked panels and worn fireplace parts fixed in Lockhart

The smoke shield and the top of the firebox

The top of a factory-built firebox includes parts such as a smoke shield and an inner dome that guide smoke toward the damper and the flue. In one maker's parts list, both are marked as not field replaceable.

Damage there changes the conversation. We tell you what we see, which parts can be serviced and when the finding means the fireplace should be replaced as a whole.

• Smoke shield
• Inner dome
• Damper area above them
• What the parts list allows in the field

When the owner's manual is missing

Manuals go missing when homes change hands. Fireplace makers such as Heat & Glo keep manual libraries online, searchable by model, and the rating plate gives the model name to search for.

We look up the manual for your unit when the plate is readable and bring the relevant pages to the repair. You get a copy of what we used, so the next service visit starts from the same document.

• Model read from the rating plate
• Manual found in the maker's library
• Relevant pages brought to the repair
• A copy left with you

Repair or replace a prefab fireplace

A prefab fireplace is worth repairing when the damaged parts are listed, available and field replaceable, and the rest of the unit is sound. Replacement comes into the conversation when non-replaceable parts are damaged, parts are gone or the firebox itself has failed.

We put the reasons in writing either way. Fireplace replacement is handled as its own installation job with its own scope, so the choice stays clear.

• Parts listed and still available
• Damage limited to field-replaceable parts
• Firebox steel sound
• Chimney system intact or repairable

Rattles, ticks and pops from a prefab unit

Steel expands as it heats and contracts as it cools, so a factory-built fireplace ticks and pops as a fire starts and dies. A new rattle, a loud bang or a change in the sound can point to a loose panel, a free damper weight or a separated joint.

Tell us when the sound happens and where it seems to come from. We match that description with what we find in the firebox and along the chimney.