Fireplace restoration for Lake Asbury homes

Gentle cleaning first, tested on a small patch you approve, for the face of your Lake Asbury fireplace.

Fully licensed and insured
Locally owned
Family owned and operated
Same-day service

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Get a quote for chimney and fireplace repair and installation in Jacksonville.

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(904) 920-5495 Free Inspection

Local restoration pros who keep the original look

Locally owned in Jacksonville
Family owned and operated
100% satisfaction guaranteed
Free inspection and estimate
Same-day service available
10% off any service

Family owned and local, we put the sequence and every waiting period into your Lake Asbury estimate.

Family owned and operatedA family business plans your Lake Asbury 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.

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Scheduling a restoration

Restoration happens in steps, and some of them need drying time. Refractory repairs on the heat side have to dry before any fire, and freshly repointed face mortar needs weeks to harden before it can be cleaned. Rushing either shows up later as cracks or streaks.

We lay the steps out in order on the estimate, with the waiting time between them, so you know when the fireplace can be used and when the face will be finished. Planning around a date for the fireplace in Lake Asbury? Tell us when you call (904) 920-5495.

Lake Asbury sits away from the coastline. Lake Asbury sits in Clay County.

Clean, repair, repoint, protect

Smoke chamber parging restored
Seized dampers freed or replaced
Soot-stained faces cleaned after a trial patch
Efflorescence identified and its water source found

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Clean, repair, repoint, finish

Clean and assess
Everything from the hearth to the flue top is cleaned, then checked and written up part by part.
Heat side first
Firebox, parging and damper repairs are made in refractory materials and left to dry.
Trial, then the face
A trial patch is cleaned and a mortar sample made for your approval before the face work.
Repoint, cure, clean
Face joints are repointed in layers, left to harden, then the face gets its final cleaning.

Stone faces inland in Lake Asbury

Some fireplaces in Lake Asbury have stone faces or stone mixed with brick. Stone takes its own cleaners and wider joints.

We identify the stone before the trial patch.

10% off any service booked within 72 hours of inspection

An old fireplace in Lake Asbury can take several jobs to restore, and each one is discounted.

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How deep old face mortar comes out

Before repointing, old mortar is removed to sound material. The National Park Service guidance sets a minimum depth of 2 to 2 1/2 times the width of the joint, which for most brick joints means about half an inch to an inch, and any loose mortar beyond that also comes out.

A shallow cut leaves the new mortar clinging to a thin ledge, and it pops out. We measure joint widths first and cut to the depth they call for, leaving square corners at the back of the cut giving the new mortar a solid back to hold. The depth is checked along each joint before filling starts.

Getting the color from the sand

Most of a mortar's color and texture comes from its sand. The National Park Service guidance on repointing notes that when the sand is matched successfully, the color and texture of the new mortar usually fall into place.

We look at the old mortar broken open, not only its weathered surface, and choose a sand close in color and grain size before adjusting anything else. Tinting new mortar is a last resort. A small sample is mixed and left to cure so you can compare it with the old joints before the face work begins, and the chosen mix is recorded.

Why strong acid stays off old brick

Muriatic acid, also called hydrochloric, and hydrofluoric acid are on the Brick Industry Association's do-not-use list when unbuffered. Its stain note adds that light-colored brick can develop yellow and green vanadium stains when it meets an acidic cleaner.

An old fireplace face is often cleaned with acid by habit, and the damage shows as etched mortar, bleached patches or new stains that are harder to remove than the soot was. Restoration uses the gentlest cleaner that works in the trial, picked to suit that fireplace's brick, and the product is named on the estimate.

Safety work and face work on one page

Safety repairs listed apart from appearance work
Damper freed and rehung, or replaced where rusted through
Deep joints filled in thin layers and tooled at thumbprint hardness
Hearth extension size and condition noted separately

Fireplace restoration questions from Lake Asbury

Can you restore an old fireplace in Lake Asbury without changing how it looks?

Yes. Restoration keeps the original brick or stone, the size of the opening and the joint pattern. Changing the facing or surround is remodeling, which we do not do.

Can you restore a stone fireplace too?

Yes. Stone joints and cleaning take their own methods, and we identify the stone before choosing any cleaner or mortar.