Local prefab fireplace repair for Tildenville homes

Firestop spacers at every floor and ceiling

Wherever the chimney passes through a floor or ceiling, one maker's system uses a firestop spacer that holds the required clearance between the pipe and the framing and separates one floor space from the next or from the attic.

A missing, bent or displaced firestop leaves framing closer to the pipe than the listing allows. We check firestops wherever access allows and replace damaged ones with the maker's part.

• A firestop at every floor or ceiling the pipe crosses
• Clearance to framing held
• Damaged firestops replaced with the maker's part

Where the pipe passes through the roof

Where a metal chimney leaves the roof, a sloped metal cone is worked into the shingles and a storm collar wraps the pipe above it. One maker's manual calls for waterproof caulk around the collar's perimeter to seal it against the pipe.

The same manual warns against sealing the openings built into the rooftop cone. Split caulk, a collar that has slid down and a cone pulled loose by roof work are the leak points we find there, and each is repaired with listed parts.

Getting to the chimney in the attic or chase

Attic and chase access lets us check the pipe joints, supports, firestops and insulation shield along the chimney. Some homes have an attic hatch near the fireplace, and some chases have no access panel at all.

We tell you where access is needed before the visit, and if an opening has to be made in a chase, the estimate says where and how it will be closed.

• Where the attic hatch is
• Whether the chase has an access panel
• Where a new opening would go
• How that opening will be closed

Prefab fireplaces in condominiums and townhomes

In condominiums and townhomes, the chimney of a factory-built fireplace can run through a shared attic or chase, and the association may have rules about roof and exterior work.

We suggest checking with the association before work that reaches the roof or a shared chase. Inside your unit, the repair follows the fireplace's listing, and our written scope gives the association a clear description of the work.

• Association rules checked first
• A written scope for the association
• Roof and shared chase work coordinated