Chimney and fireplace repair company serving Panama Park

A factory-built wood fireplace is a listed appliance, and that one fact settles many of the questions about repairing it. Florida's residential code has these units listed and labeled, tested to UL 127 and installed to their listing, so every repair has to keep the unit inside what its label and manual allow. The parts that wear are the refractory panels lining the firebox, the steel box around them, the grate, the damper assembly, the screen, and the metal chimney above.

Cracked panels are replaced with the maker's panels for that model, set in the order the parts diagram shows, and a sticky damper can be freed or rebuilt with the maker's parts. Gasketed doors, a vent-free heater made to look like logs, or a decorative shroud on the chimney top go on only where they are listed for that system, since the code bars them otherwise.

That is why we read the unit's rating label before quoting anything. Replacement comes up when the firebox steel has rusted or burned through, when panels and parts for the model are no longer made, or when the metal chimney has been damaged by overheating. The answer then is a new listed fireplace with the chimney listed for it, because pipe from one maker's system is not mixed with another's.

The framing, clearances and chase top are then checked against the new unit's manual, and the hearth extension is sized the way its listing asks. Some owners switch to a gas unit or an electric fireplace at that point, and the estimate can price those routes beside a like-for-like replacement. A replacement fireplace is permitted work, and the estimate names who pulls the permit.

A firebox with a panel broken through to the steel should wait for that check before its next fire, since the panels are what stand between the fire and the steel box. If the prefab fireplace in your Panama Park home is showing its age, our fireplace pros will tell you whether it can be repaired before any replacement is priced. Call (904) 920-5495 for the free inspection.