Fireplace Services
Behind the screen of a prefab fireplace in Sanlando Springs
Reading the rating plate before any repair
Somewhere on a listed prefab unit there is a rating plate naming the manufacturer, the model and a serial number. In the IHP homeowner guide the plate sits behind the screen near the upper right corner of the firebox, or on a side panel on some models, and one Superior manual puts it on the smoke shelf. Those two numbers are what the maker asks for before it supplies a part.
Our pros find and read that plate at the start of every inspection in Sanlando Springs. If it is painted over, scorched or missing, we tell you, look for other markings on the unit and explain how that limits the parts we can order with confidence.
How wide a panel crack can be
Hairline cracks in refractory are expected with use. The IHP guide allows the fireplace to be used with cracks up to 1/64 inch wide. Past that width it says to patch the crack with refractory patching cement or replace the panel, and not to keep using the fireplace until one of those is done.
Our pros look at the widest crack in each panel of your Sanlando Springs firebox during the inspection and note it on your estimate. You see which panels are inside the limit, which can be patched and which need replacing, before any price is given. Hairline cracks inside the limit are simply recorded, so the next inspection can tell whether they have grown.
UL 103 and the chimney above the fireplace
Two rules in the Florida Building Code apply to this pipe. A chimney used with a factory-built fireplace must comply with UL 127 (section R1005.4). A factory-built chimney serving a solid-fuel appliance in a home must meet the Type HT requirements of UL 103, while chimneys for open-combustion-chamber fireplaces meet UL 103 without the HT marking (section R1005.3).
For a homeowner in Sanlando Springs, that means the pipe in the chase is not generic duct. It is a listed product that has to go in and end at the roof the way its maker's instructions say (section R1005.1), and our repairs keep it one product from the firebox to the cap.
Offsets and elbows in a prefab chimney
A factory-built chimney does not always run straight. Under section R1005.7, an offset may lean at most 30 degrees off plumb, and the assembly may include four elbows at the most. One Superior manual adds that the weight above an offset rests on the return elbow, that straps are nailed to rafters or joists and that an angled run may go no more than 6 feet between supports.
Sagging or separated elbows are hard to see from the room. Our pros check the offsets they can reach in your Sanlando Springs attic or chase and replace strained parts with the elbows, straps and supports listed for the system.
