Our Process
Top damper installation in Woodruff Springs, in detail
Anchoring the handle bracket in the firebox
The handle has to lock somewhere solid. The Lock-Top instructions mount the bracket on the firebrick toward the fireplace front, about 20 inches above the floor of the firebox, using two nail anchors in drilled holes, with the bracket squared before the second hole is drilled.
In your Woodruff Springs fireplace we place the bracket where the maker's instructions call for it and where the handle is easy to reach without leaning into the firebox. The anchors go into sound firebrick, and a cracked brick in that spot is pointed out before we drill.
A fireplace you seldom light
Plenty of fireplaces sit unused for long stretches. An open flue over that time lets in rain, insects and debris and lets conditioned air escape, and a damper that seals keeps the chimney closed until the next fire.
Before you light your Woodruff Springs fireplace after a long break, open the damper and look up the flue with a flashlight for anything that has fallen in, and have the chimney inspected if it has been a while. A free inspection from our team covers the damper, the flue and the firebox.
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 Woodruff Springs 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.
A clean hearth and a written record
Installing a top damper involves the roof, the flue and the firebox, with drilling in the firebrick and adhesive at the top. Our crew protects the hearth and the floor in front of the fireplace, cleans up the dust from drilling and hauls away the old parts and packaging.
You receive a written record of the work we did on your Woodruff Springs chimney, including the damper model, the flue size and the operating positions. Keep it with the damper's instructions, which we leave with you.
