What's Included

Smoke chamber repair, done in order in Midway

Deposits on every ledge

Soot and creosote cling to the flat tops of corbel steps and to rough patches where parging has fallen away. A standard sweep may not reach all of it in a stepped chamber. We clean the chamber thoroughly first, then parge it smooth so there is far less for deposits to catch on in future. Heavy glazed buildup is priced as its own item.

Our family-owned team shows homeowners in Midway what was removed and what the parging will change.

Keeping the passage wide enough

Under the code, no part of the path above the firebox, whether throat, damper or smoke chamber, may be smaller in cross section than the flue. That matters during a repair. Parging applied too thick, or a rebuild that leans the walls in too far, can pinch the passage. We keep the coat to the thickness its maker calls for and check the opening afterwards.

The finished passage is explained to you, with our 100% satisfaction guarantee behind it.

Loose brick comes before parging

Parging is a finish coat, not glue. Spreading it over loose or crumbling brick hides the problem for a while, then the coat cracks away with the brick behind it. Where we find loose units, we reset or replace them in refractory mortar first, then parge over sound masonry.

The loose areas are pointed out and priced on their own line before any work starts. Our smoke chamber experts in Midway never cover up a problem they can fix.

Coats, thickness and drying time

Refractory parging goes on in the number of coats and at the thickness its maker specifies, with each coat worked smooth and allowed to set. Drying and first heating follow the product's own directions, which differ from one material to the next. Rushing either step can leave a coat that cracks early.

Drying and first-fire steps for your exact product are left in writing, so homeowners in Midway never have to guess when the fireplace is ready.

Chamber work, recorded in writing

Once the work is done, you receive a written record showing which areas were rebuilt, which surfaces were parged, the product used and its drying steps. Keep it with your house papers, since the chamber cannot be seen from the room and the record is the easiest way to show what was done.

Smoke chamber jobs by our family-owned team in Midway close out with that record. Schedule the chamber work inside 72 hours of the inspection and save 10%.