Local firebox repair for Bayard homes
Firebrick replaced to size and joints kept at a quarter inch or less, on Bayard fireboxes inspected free of charge.
- Fully licensed and insured
- Locally owned
- Family owned and operated
- Same-day service
Get Your Free Inspection
Get a quote for chimney and fireplace repair and installation in Jacksonville.
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Quicker by phone? Call (904) 920-5495
Local firebox pros who price wall by wall
- Locally owned in Jacksonville
- Family owned and operated
- 100% satisfaction guaranteed
- Free inspection and estimate
- Same-day service available
- 10% off any service
Cracks left in place are written down too, so you can watch them against our note.
- Free inspection and estimateEvery wall of the firebox in Bayard is tapped and probed cold, and the failed bricks and joints are marked at no charge.
- Upfront pricing, no hidden feesEach wall is quoted for what it needs, a few joints, a few bricks or a full reline, so a small repair stays small.
- 100% satisfaction guaranteedIf a joint we repointed opens again after it has cured and been used as the ticket says, we come back and redo it.
Getting a quote before choosing an insert
A wood or gas insert is sometimes chosen to cover a firebox in poor shape. One insert maker's guide asks for the fireplace to be checked and repaired before the insert goes in, so the firebox condition matters either way.
We check the firebox, write down what it needs and price it on its own line, so you can compare repairing the fireplace with fitting an insert, side by side on the same page. Deciding what to do with a tired firebox in Bayard? Book a free inspection at (904) 920-5495.
The county for Bayard is Duval County. Bayard is inland.
Joints, firebrick, walls and floor
- Bowed walls checked against the masonry behind them
- Firebox floor bricks lifted and reset flat
- Rumford fireboxes relined to their original angles
- A written cure date for your Bayard fireplace
From a cold firebox to the first fire in Bayard
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Keep the firebox cold
Let the fireplace go unused for several hours ahead of our visit, so each wall is cool to the touch.
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Tap, probe and mark
Each brick is sounded, each joint probed, and the failed ones marked and written up by wall.
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Rake, rebrick or reline
Joints are raked and repointed, failed bricks replaced and worn walls relined in C199 mortar.
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Cure date on the ticket
The mortar maker's drying time sets the date of the first small fire, written down before we leave.
A firebox worn by years of use in Bayard
Away from the shore, a firebox in Bayard ages at the pace of its fires. A lining that has carried many seasons can be thin across the whole back wall rather than failed in spots.
We measure what remains and quote a reline where patching would not last.
10% off any service booked within 72 hours of inspection
Book firebox repointing or rebricking in Bayard within 72 hours of the inspection and 10% comes off.
Keeping firebox joints to a quarter inch
Under R1001.5, the joints between firebricks may be no wider than a quarter inch. A refractory mortar maker may list a wider range for other work, such as an eighth to three eighths of an inch for fire brick in general, but inside a residential firebox the code's figure sets the upper limit.
Thin joints matter because refractory mortar is still the part of the lining that wears first, and a wide joint gives the fire more of it to work on. When a joint was laid wide from the start, repointing cannot narrow it; the bricks on either side would have to be relaid. We measure joint widths while probing and note any wall where that applies.
Raking out an open joint
Repointing a firebox joint means removing the failed mortar before new mortar goes in. The joint is raked to firm material with a hand tool, cleared of dust and loose grit, and dampened if the product's data sheet calls for it.
New refractory mortar is then packed in, struck flush and cleaned off the brick faces before it sets. Shallow skim coats over a soft joint break off with the first heat, so the raking is the slow, careful part of the job. A power grinder is avoided where it would chip the brick edges, since a chipped edge makes the joint wider than it was.
The firebox floor and the hearth under it
Under the firebrick floor of the firebox is the hearth, which the Florida code requires to be at least 4 inches thick and built of concrete or masonry on noncombustible support. A floor brick that sinks or rocks may point to a bed that has eroded or a hearth that has cracked beneath it.
We lift the failed floor bricks, check the bed and the hearth below, and reset the floor flat in refractory mortar. Cracks in the hearth slab, or in the extension that runs out in front of the opening, are written up as hearth work, which has rules and a price of its own.
Walls, joints and cure time in writing
- Each firebox wall and the floor tapped, probed and marked in chalk
- Open joints raked to firm mortar and repointed in C199 refractory mortar
- Cure time from the mortar maker's data written on the ticket
- Back wall slope and throat height kept on any rebuild
Firebox repair questions from Bayard
Is refractory caulk good enough for firebox joints?
Not for every joint. Florida's code wants firebrick laid in C199 medium-duty refractory mortar, with joints kept to a quarter inch. We read the product's stated standard and joint range before using it.
Why not fill the cracks and paint over them?
Paint does nothing for the lining and keeps new mortar from bonding. Open joints need raking and refilling, and cracked bricks need replacing, so the repair lasts.
More services in Bayard
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Get the firebox in Bayard ready for fires
Loose brick or open joints in Bayard? The firebox inspection is free.
Free Inspection