Fireplace Services
Inside a wood insert installation
Nothing hidden in the price, a workmanship warranty on the work and a tidy house each evening.
Setting the insert level and square
An insert that leans makes the door hang poorly and the surround sit unevenly against the fireplace face. Old hearths are rarely flat, so the setting takes more care than it looks.
Our installers level the insert with noncombustible shims where the manual allows, square it to the opening and check the door swing and the surround gap before the liner is connected. A level insert also sits evenly against the hearth protection in front of it and looks built in.
Burning on the firebrick
Open fireplaces often use a grate or andirons. The insert manual we follow asks for the fire to burn directly on the firebricks, with no grate or andirons, and for broken bricks to be replaced.
We remove any old grate from the fireplace before installation and show you how to build the first fire on the firebrick bed. A cracked brick found later is a simple part to replace. We explain how deep a bed of ash your model's manual likes to keep under the fire.
Dry, seasoned wood
EPA advises burning only dry, split wood that has seasoned for at least six months, and checking it with a moisture meter. It also suggests keeping the woodpile outdoors, raised off the ground, with a cover over the top only.
Wet wood wastes heat, dirties the glass and leaves more deposits in the liner. We explain the moisture check at handover and suggest how to stack wood so it dries between deliveries. A covered stack in open air dries faster than wood packed into a closed shed.
A yearly inspection of the insert system
Under NFPA 211, chimneys, fireplaces and vents get an inspection every year covering soundness, deposits and clearances. It also calls for a more thorough inspection when a connected appliance is added or replaced and before a flue is relined. A yearly visit also catches a loose top plate or a worn gasket before either one affects a fire.
We offer maintenance visits that cover the liner, the top plate and cap, the door seal and the baffle each year. Any work a visit finds is priced in writing first.
