Family-run firebox repair in Switzerland

Local pros tap every firebrick in your Switzerland fireplace, probe every joint and write down which repair fixes it. The inspection is free.

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

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Firebox experts for Switzerland fireplaces

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

As a family-owned local crew, we show you the failed bricks in Switzerland before quoting.

Free inspection and estimateEvery wall of the firebox in Switzerland 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.

Call (904) 920-5495 Free Inspection

A dark line where the floor meets the walls

The joint where the firebox floor meets the back and side walls takes heat from the fire and ash sitting against it. When that joint opens, it shows as a dark gap running along the base of the walls, sometimes with loose grit in it.

We probe that joint along its whole length, rake out what has failed and repoint it in refractory mortar. While we are down at floor level, the floor firebricks get checked for cracks and rocking as well. A gap along the base of the firebox walls in Switzerland? Call (904) 920-5495 and we will measure it.

The county for Switzerland is St. Johns County. Switzerland is inland.

Joints, firebrick, walls and floor

Gaps along the base of the walls repointed
Painted fireboxes cleaned back where mortar must bond
Rumford fireboxes relined to their original angles
Cast refractory pieces assessed before any repair

Call (904) 920-5495 Free Inspection

Tap, probe, repair, cure

Keep the firebox cold
Let the fireplace go unused for several hours ahead of our visit, so each wall is cool to the touch.
Tap, probe and mark
Each brick is sounded, each joint probed, and the failed ones marked and written up by wall.
Rake, rebrick or reline
Joints are raked and repointed, failed bricks replaced and worn walls relined in C199 mortar.
Cure date on the ticket
The mortar maker's drying time sets the date of the first small fire, written down before we leave.

Cool nights and a fresh repair in Switzerland

A firebox repair done just before the first cool spell leaves no time for the mortar to dry. Refractory mortar needs days before heat, and one maker also sets a low temperature limit for the two days after it goes in.

Booking the Switzerland repair early keeps the first fire on schedule.

10% off any service booked within 72 hours of inspection

Book firebox repointing or rebricking in Switzerland within 72 hours of the inspection and 10% comes off.

Call (904) 920-5495 Free Inspection

How big a mortar patch can be

Mortar is made for joints and shallow repairs, not for rebuilding missing masonry. One maker says its medium-duty refractory mortar cannot be used as a casting cement and that a patch should not exceed an inch in its smallest dimension.

When a brick has lost a deep piece of its face, filling the hole with mortar makes a patch much thicker than that, and it tends to crack loose along its edges. The lasting repair is a new firebrick cut to fit the opening. That is why the estimate lists replacement for deep damage even where most of the old brick is still in place and looks sound from the room.

Tapping and probing, wall by wall

Our firebox inspection for repair is done cold. Each firebrick is tapped with a hammer handle, since a sound brick rings and a loose one sounds dull. Each joint is probed with a pick to see how deep the mortar has gone soft or missing, and joint widths are checked against the quarter-inch limit.

Everything found is marked on the brick in chalk and written on the estimate under its wall: back, left side, right side and floor. The repair then covers the bricks and joints that failed and leaves sound ones alone, and you can walk the chalk marks with us before any work is booked.

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.

Walls, joints and cure time in writing

Cracked or hollow firebrick cut out and replaced one at a time
Cure time from the mortar maker's data written on the ticket
Old patches and bag mortar removed from repaired joints
Damper frame supported and reset when the back wall is rebuilt

Firebox repair questions from Switzerland

Can you replace just the bad firebricks in Switzerland?

Yes. Cracked, hollow or worn-through firebricks come out individually and new ones go in, and the sound bricks around them stay. A full reline is written up only when a whole wall has worn.

Should I stop using the fireplace until the repair?

If bricks are loose, joints are open deep into the wall or the back wall bows, yes. Hairline cracks in sound brick can wait for the visit, and we tell you which you have. Call (904) 920-5495 to book a free inspection in Switzerland.