Our Services
Gas logs measured, fitted and tested
The fireplace is checked before our gas log specialists choose and fit a set.
What a gas log set is made of
There is more to a gas log set than the logs you see. Underneath sit a burner, a gas control or valve, an ignition system and often a pan of ember material, and the whole arrangement is designed and listed to work together. The logs are shaped and placed so the flame moves around them the way the maker intended. Most sets also come with their own ember material and a manual that shows where every piece belongs.
A set is therefore chosen and installed as one system. Swapping in a different burner, adding logs from another set or changing the ember bed can change how cleanly it burns. Our quote names every part of the set so you know exactly what is being installed.
Mantels and walls above a vent-free set
With a vent-free set, all the heat stays in the room, so the wall and mantel above the opening matter. One maker requires noncombustible or heat-resistant material immediately above the fireplace opening and limits how far a wooden mantel can project at a given height. That manual says a set that cannot meet those clearances must be run with the damper open. A vented set sends most of its exhaust up the flue, so these particular figures belong to the vent-free choice.
We measure the mantel height and projection against the chosen set's figures during the inspection. If the numbers do not work, we show you the options before anything is ordered.
A damper that works before a vented set goes in
The damper on a fireplace with a vented set stays open for good, but it still has to be sound. A rusted plate that has dropped, a handle that no longer moves or a frame that has pulled away from the masonry can all interfere with the permanent opening the set needs.
We open and close the damper during the inspection, look at its frame and plate and tell you whether it can take a clamp as it is. If the damper needs repair or replacement first, that work is priced on its own line, and the set goes in once the damper is right. That way the clamp holds a damper that is worth holding open.
The first hours of burning
New burners and logs are treated with oils and paints during manufacture, and those burn off the first few times the set runs. One maker describes the smoke and smell as normal and calls for a break-in period of four to six hours with as much ventilation as possible, windows or doors open.
We light the set with you at the end of installation, explain what the break-in smell is and how long to expect it, and tell you what would be out of the ordinary. That way the first evening holds no surprises. If the smell continues well past the break-in period, or it changes, turn the set off and ask for it to be checked.
