Fireplace Repair
Inside a fireplace repair in Bertha
Smoke chamber repair above the fireplace damper
Between the damper and the flue sits the smoke chamber, which narrows the smoke from the wide firebox into the flue. The code calls for its walls to be solid masonry with the inside surface parged smooth using refractory mortar that meets ASTM C199 (R1001.8). Rough, stepped brick or parging that has fallen away slows the smoke on its way up.
You cannot see the smoke chamber from the room, which is why flakes of mortar on the damper or in the firebox are worth mentioning when you call. Our specialists inspect it during the free visit to your Bertha home, and where the surface has failed they parge it with refractory mortar and list that repair on its own line.
Mantel and trim spacing around the fireplace opening
Wood mantels and trim are allowed on the face of a masonry fireplace, within limits. The code keeps exposed combustible trim 6 inches or more from the opening, and inside the 12-inch zone around it, combustible material may stand out only 1/8 inch for each inch of distance (R1001.11, exception 4).
A deep mantel shelf mounted low, or decorative molding added right up to the opening, can end up too close. Our specialists measure these distances on your Bertha fireplace and tell you if something needs to move. Scorched paint or darkened wood above the opening is one of the clues we look for.
Glass door repair on factory-built fireplaces
Adding glass doors changes the airflow through a fireplace and the temperatures its parts reach. For factory-built fireplaces, the code allows a gasketed door only when the fireplace system has been tested, listed and labeled for it under UL 127 (R1004.5). A door kit that fits the opening is not automatically approved for the unit behind it.
We repair hinges, handles and loose frames on doors made for your model and replace cracked door glass with the listed part. If the doors on your Bertha fireplace were added later and are not listed for it, we tell you what the manual allows before any repair is quoted.
Repairing glass doors and screens on a masonry fireplace
Listed fireplace accessories, glass doors and screens included, are installed under the conditions of their listing and the maker's instructions, and they comply with UL 907, per section R1001.13 of the Florida code. A door frame screwed into crumbling mortar or a screen missing its panels does little good.
We reset loose door frames into sound masonry, replace broken screens and adjust doors that no longer close. The NFPA recommends a sturdy screen to stop sparks flying into the room, and our specialists make sure yours covers the opening before the Bertha job is finished.
