Local fireplace restoration in Doctors Inlet
An unused fireplace in Doctors Inlet restored to working order, with the drying time before the first fire written down.
- Fully licensed and insured
- Locally owned
- Family owned and operated
- Same-day service
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Fireplace restoration experts for Doctors Inlet homes
- Locally owned in Jacksonville
- Family owned and operated
- 100% satisfaction guaranteed
- Free inspection and estimate
- Same-day service available
- 10% off any service
The face is cleaned only after a trial patch you have seen dry.
- Family owned and operatedA family business plans your Doctors Inlet fireplace as one job, so each step happens once and in the right order.
- 100% satisfaction guaranteedYou approve the trial patch and the mortar sample before the face is touched, and our guarantee covers the result.
A damper frozen halfway
Dampers that have not moved in years rust at the pivots and stick, sometimes partly open and sometimes shut. A plate stuck partway narrows the passage the smoke needs, which the building code does not want smaller than the flue, and forcing it with a poker can bend the plate or crack the frame.
We free and rehang the plate where it will move again, or write up a replacement where it has rusted thin, and the damper is worked open and shut before any fire. Damper stuck in your Doctors Inlet fireplace? Leave it alone and call (904) 920-5495.
Doctors Inlet falls within Clay County. Doctors Inlet lies inland.
Clean, repair, repoint, protect
- Smoke chamber parging restored
- Face joints repointed to match the original
- Mismatched old patches cut out and redone
- Rooms protected while the work is done
How fireplace restoration runs
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Clean and assess
Everything from the hearth to the flue top is cleaned, then checked and written up part by part.
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Heat side first
Firebox, parging and damper repairs are made in refractory materials and left to dry.
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Trial, then the face
A trial patch is cleaned and a mortar sample made for your approval before the face work.
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Repoint, cure, clean
Face joints are repointed in layers, left to harden, then the face gets its final cleaning.
Worn brick on inland fireplaces
Brick worn round at the edges is part of an old fireplace's age. In Doctors Inlet we keep it and set new joints slightly back so they do not look wide.
Only bricks that have lost their face are replaced.
10% off any service booked within 72 hours of inspection
The restoration comes 10% off and carries our 100% satisfaction guarantee like any job.
Cleaning before judging
Soot and loose debris hide the condition of an old fireplace. Cracks in firebrick, open joints and missing parging in the smoke chamber can sit under a dark coat and look sound from a step away.
We clean all three areas, flue, chamber and firebox, then go back with a light and a probe and write down what is actually there. It is slower than quoting from the doorway, but it keeps the estimate from growing halfway through the work. Anything found that falls outside restoration, such as a problem at the top of the chimney, is listed separately.
Heat-side repairs use refractory materials
Inside the firebox and the smoke chamber, the building code sets the materials. Firebrick goes into C199 medium-duty refractory mortar, the class R1001.5 names, and firebox joints stay at a quarter inch or less.
The same mortar class is required for smoke chamber parging. Restoration uses those materials on the heat side even where the original builder did not, because they are what hold up to the fire. The ordinary mortars used on the face have no place inside the firebox, and the estimate names the refractory product separately from the face mortar so the two stay apart on site.
Wetting the brick before any cleaner
Saturating the brick comes first in the association's bucket-and-brush method: the area to be cleaned, and the brick below it, is soaked with water before a cleaning solution goes on and kept wet until the final rinse. The cleaner is not allowed to dry on the brick.
Saturated brick absorbs less of the cleaner, so it works on the surface instead of soaking into the masonry, and the rinse carries it away. On a fireplace face that means working in small sections, with the hearth and floor protected and the rinse water caught as we go, not flooding the whole face at once.
Cleaned and checked in Doctors Inlet before a plan is priced
- Damper freed and rehung, or replaced where rusted through
- Face mortar matched in sand, color and profile, softer than the brick
- Lintel checked for rust, sag and bearing
- Order of work and drying times written on the estimate
Before an old fireplace is brought back
Will the new mortar match the old?
We match the sand, color and joint profile, and test a sample first. Fresh mortar looks slightly different at first and blends as it cures.
Is a restored fireplace inspected at the end?
Yes. We check the firebox, smoke chamber and damper after the work and run through the first fire with you once the materials have dried.
More services in Doctors Inlet
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Learn more about fireplace restorationAll services in Doctors Inlet
Bring your Doctors Inlet fireplace back to life
Our restoration pros clean, check and plan your Doctors Inlet fireplace in writing. Call (904) 920-5495.
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