Wood burning fireplace repair in MetroWest

Getting the room ready for the repair visit

A little preparation makes the visit quicker. Let the fireplace go fully cold, and leave the ashes where they are unless they are cool and you already have a covered metal container for them. Clear the hearth and the floor in front of it, and move furniture and decor back from the opening.

Keep pets and children out of the room while the work is under way. Set out any owner manual, past invoice or home inspection note about the fireplace, and jot down when the problem first appeared.

Our crew lays down drop cloths and protects the floor and nearby furniture before any tool comes out. At the end of the job the area is vacuumed and wiped down, and the old parts are either taken away or left for you if you want to see them.

• No fire in the fireplace on the day of the visit
• A clear path from the door to the hearth
• Any manual or paperwork within reach
• A note of when the fault started

Gaps opening up between the firebricks

The joints between firebricks are meant to be thin. The Florida Building Code limits them to no more than a quarter inch. When joints wear back, crack or fall out, the lining loses the tight surface the code describes and loose bricks can start to shift in the wall.

We probe the joints to find the soft ones, rake them out and refill them with medium-duty refractory mortar. Where bricks have loosened, they are taken out, cleaned and reset. Joints on the room side of the fireplace, outside the firebox, are a separate job and may call for a different mortar.

The estimate shows how much of the firebox needs new joints, so you can see whether the job is a spot repair or new joints across the whole lining. Any bricks that need resetting are listed on their own line.

Built-in dampers on factory-built fireplaces

Factory-built fireplaces often have a damper built into the unit, and their manuals are specific about how it is used. The Heatilator Accelerator owner manual, as one example, requires its damper to be fully open while the fireplace is in use. EPA wood-burning guidance also lists a damper not opened wide enough among the conditions that keep smoke lingering in the flue.

When the damper handle feels stiff, will not latch open or the plate sits crooked, the damper parts come from the maker's list for that model. Forcing the handle can bend the linkage further and turn a small repair into a larger one.

Our crew checks the damper through its full travel, fixes or replaces the parts the manual allows and shows you the open and closed positions before we leave. The estimate lists the damper items with the model number beside them.

Metal trim and hoods on a factory-built face

The metal pieces around a factory-built opening, such as a trim frame, a hood above the opening or grille panels, are often part of the listed system. Some are there for heat or air flow and not only for looks, and the model's manual says which. Take them off for a new look and the fireplace may no longer match what was tested.

Problems tend to appear after a refacing, when a hood is left off, a grille is painted shut or trim is bent to fit new stone. The fireplace may still light and burn, which is why the change goes unnoticed.

On site, the face is checked against the model's manual. We refit or replace the listed trim and reopen air slots that were closed off. Where a finish sits too close to the opening, the estimate says what the manual requires and what has to change, with each listed part named.