Our Process
The details behind fixing your Astor Farms fireplace
Fireplace damper repair for a stuck or loose damper
Section R1001.7.1 of Florida's residential code gives every masonry fireplace a metal damper, operable from the room and mounted 8 inches or more above the top of the opening. Rust, warped plates, broken handles and debris resting on the plate can leave it frozen open, stuck shut or flopping loose.
A damper stuck shut sends smoke into the room the moment a fire is lit, and one stuck open lets cooled indoor air escape up the chimney whenever the fireplace sits unused. Our pros free, adjust or rebuild the existing damper where the metal is sound and tell you plainly when it is past saving. Please do not force a handle that will not move.
Scorched trim or a hot mantel above the fireplace
Darkened paint, blistered finish or wood that feels hot above the fireplace is a warning. It can mean trim sits closer than the code allows for combustible material around the opening, smoke is rolling out of the top of the opening or fires are being built bigger than the fireplace was made for.
We measure the trim and mantel against the Florida Building Code limits, check how the fireplace draws and look at the firebox for heat damage. The fix might be moving the trim, a repair inside the fireplace or both. Until then, the NFPA advice to keep anything that can burn at least three feet from a fireplace applies in your Astor Farms home.
Ash cleanout and fireplace repair
Ash handling is part of using a wood fireplace safely. NFPA guidance says to let ashes cool, then put them in a metal container stored a safe distance from the house, and EPA wood-burning advice is to keep that covered metal container outdoors on a surface that will not burn.
Before we repair a firebox, the old ash is cleaned out and hauled away with the rest of the debris. If an ash dump door or cleanout cover is rusted or missing, we note it and quote the repair separately. When the Astor Farms job is finished, the firebox is left clean and ready for its first fire once the materials have cured.
Repairing water and rust damage inside the fireplace
Rust on the damper, damp ash, water marks on the firebox walls or a musty smell after rain means water is reaching the fireplace from somewhere above it: the cap, the top of the chimney or the roof around it. The fireplace shows the damage, but the entry point is higher up.
We repair the rust and water damage inside the fireplace and trace the leak during the free inspection. The fix for the source is quoted on its own line through our chimney leak service, so you can tell apart the work that stops the water and the work that repairs the damage it already did in your Astor Farms home.
