Fireplace repair for Park Lake/Highland homes

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

Outside air kits and their controls

Some factory-built fireplaces have an outside air kit, a duct that brings combustion air in from outdoors. The Florida Building Code treats that duct as a listed component of the fireplace, installed to the maker's instructions. The Heatilator Accelerator owner manual, as one example, shows the outside air control separately from the flue damper control, and the two do different jobs.

Problems can show up as a control that will not move, a cold draft from the fireplace when it is idle or a duct that has come loose or filled with debris at the outdoor end. Mixing up the two controls is easy, and closing the wrong one can change how the fire burns.

Both controls are checked against the manual for your model. We clear or reconnect the duct where it can be reached and replace a failed part with the maker's kit. On estimates in Park Lake/Highland, the outside air items sit apart from the rest of the fireplace work.

Smoke alarms tested once a month

NFPA heating safety tips say to test smoke alarms at least once a month. The room with the fireplace, the hallway outside it and the bedrooms nearby are where a working alarm earns its keep.

Testing takes the press of a button. Replace batteries or whole alarms as the alarm maker directs, and resist taking an alarm down because it sounds when the fireplace is lit. An alarm that sounds during every fire may mean smoke is leaving the fireplace the wrong way. If smoke fills the room, get everyone out and call 911 from outside.

During visits to homes in Park Lake/Highland, our technicians note the nearest alarms and mention any that seem to be missing. Where alarms have reacted to past fires, the cause is traced at the fireplace and the repair is written up with it. The alarm note sits on the same written record, so nothing gets lost between the two.

Bringing a long-unused fireplace back into service

A fireplace that has sat unused for years can hold surprises. A damper may have seized, a grate rusted, debris collected in the throat and earlier repairs may be hidden under paint or behind a decorative screen.

Lighting a fire to see what happens is the wrong first step. The fireplace should be checked cold, from the firebox up to the damper, and the flue inspected before the first fire, in line with the yearly inspection NFPA 211 calls for.

Our crew in Park Lake/Highland works through that list and writes up only what is needed. Some fireplaces need very little, and you will hear that too.

• Damper freed and run through its full travel
• Firebox and joints checked for damage
• Hearth, face and lintel looked over
• Flue checked or swept before the first fire