Our Process
Top damper installation in Crystal Point, in detail
How a top sealing damper works
A top sealing damper is a lid that sits on the top of the flue, lined with a gasket and held open by a spring or lever. A stainless cable runs down the inside of the flue to the firebox. Pulling the cable closes the lid against the flue, and releasing it lets the damper open again.
Rockford Chimney Supply's listing for the Lyemance damper describes this layout, with a silicone gasket on the flap and a locking bracket inside the fireplace for the chain handle. On your Crystal Point chimney our team explains which model we propose and how its lid, spring and cable work before it is installed.
Throat damper repair or a top damper
The throat damper sits just above the firebox, and heat, rust and age can warp its plate or seize its hinge. Some can be freed, adjusted or fitted with new parts. Others have rusted too far, or their frame has broken loose from the masonry, and repairing them means difficult work inside the smoke chamber.
When the throat damper in your Crystal Point fireplace can be repaired sensibly, our team says so and prices that repair. When it cannot, a top sealing damper is the usual alternative, and we explain what happens to the old throat damper. You see both options on the estimate.
Using the damper with a wood fire
The Consumer Product Safety Commission's advice is to open the damper before the fire is lit, keep it open until the ashes have cooled, and never shut it at bedtime over warm ashes. The smoke and gases from the fire need that open flue to leave the house.
With a top damper the rule is the same, only the handle is in a different place. Our team shows you how to confirm the damper on your Crystal Point chimney is open before you light a fire, and how to leave it open overnight while the ashes cool.
More than one flue in the chimney
Some chimneys carry two or more flues, each serving a different fireplace or appliance. A top damper belongs only on the flue of a wood-burning fireplace it suits, and the other flues keep whatever their own appliances require.
Before measuring your Crystal Point chimney, our team identifies which flue serves which fireplace, so the damper goes on the right one and nothing that must stay open is ever closed.
