Fireplace Repair
Inside a fireplace repair in Kolokee
When a fireplace damper has to be replaced
Some dampers cannot be saved. A plate rusted through, a frame cracked by heat or a missing piece that is no longer made all point to replacement. The new damper has to fit the throat of your fireplace, close properly and still be worked from the room, which is the rule the code sets for masonry fireplaces.
We measure the throat, explain the replacement options that suit it and price the one you choose before the old unit comes out. The estimate for your Kolokee fireplace names the damper type and lists any firebox or smoke chamber repair found during the work as a separate item.
Outside air supply repair for a fireplace
A fire needs air, and a tightly sealed house can starve it. The Florida Building Code asks for an exterior air supply for fireplaces, except in rooms where mechanical ventilation keeps indoor pressure neutral or positive (R1006.1). The intake is covered with 1/4 inch corrosion-resistant mesh, and the outlet at the firebox has to close (R1006.2, R1006.5).
Outside air kits rust shut, lose their screens or get blocked by insects and yard debris. If your Kolokee fireplace has one, we check the outlet, the duct and the intake and repair or clear what has failed. On a factory-built unit, the duct is a listed part of the fireplace, so the replacement comes from the maker.
Repairing sagging brick over the fireplace opening
Over the fireplace opening, the brick is carried by a lintel, most often a steel angle. The code requires that lintel to be noncombustible and to bear at least 4 inches onto the masonry at each end, with the throat or damper at least 8 inches above it (R1001.7). Heat and rust can bend or thin a steel lintel with time.
Cracks stepping up from the corners of the opening, a gap under the first row of brick or a visible dip across the top are the signs we check. Where the lintel has failed, our pros support the masonry, replace the lintel and reset the brick above it, then show you the finished opening before the site is cleaned up.
Burning habits that protect a repaired firebox
EPA wood-burning guidance is to burn only dry, split, well-seasoned wood and never trash, cardboard or painted or pressure-treated wood. It also warns never to start a fire with gasoline, kerosene or charcoal starter. Those habits keep smoke down, which also helps a freshly repaired firebox and damper stay clean.
Before we leave, our pros go over the first-fire instructions for the products used in your repair, since some refractory materials ask for a gradual start. The steps that apply to your Kolokee fireplace are written on your record, so nobody in the house has to remember them.
