Fireplace Services
Fireplace insert installation details for Crystal Point homes
Repairs are found and priced before the insert goes in, never after.
A full-length liner
A full stainless liner runs from the insert's flue collar to the top of the chimney. One maker calls it the safest option, one that drafts correctly and helps prevent difficult start-ups and smoke at the door, and another notes that a full reline gives the best draft and is easiest to clean.
Our installers size the liner to the insert's instructions, run it in one continuous length where the chimney allows and connect it firmly at both ends. The liner's size and parts are written into the estimate and the written record of the job.
A direct connection and its limits
Some manuals also allow a direct or positive connection, with a short connector from the insert into the existing flue and a block-off plate sealing the throat. Local codes may call for a clean-out door with that arrangement, and one maker does not allow a face-seal connection at all.
We explain which connections your model permits and what each means for cleaning and draft. Where a full liner is the better answer, we say so, and the difference in scope appears side by side in the estimate.
Room air or outside air
An insert can take its combustion air from the room or from outside. One maker allows outside air through the old ash clean-out, fitted with a rodent screen and paired with a sealed surround, or room air with the surround left unsealed, and it asks installers to check local codes.
We recommend the arrangement your model allows and your fireplace suits. The choice is written into the estimate, because it changes how the surround is fitted. If outside air is part of the plan, we check the old ash clean-out for a clear path and fit the rodent screen the manual calls for.
Emptying ashes safely
Ashes from an insert can hold heat for a long time. The manuals we follow call for a metal container with a tight-fitting lid, kept on a noncombustible surface away from anything that can burn until the ashes are cold.
We show you how much ash to leave in the firebox for your model and how to remove the rest without spreading dust. Emptying ashes the manual's way keeps the insert burning well. The container stays outside the house on a noncombustible surface until the ashes are cold.
