Questions about your chimney? Call our receptionist, Kari, at 320.414.0191. She picks up weekdays, 9 to 5.
Most fireplaces we get called about still light and still burn, which is why people put off having them looked at. The trouble is usually in the firebox, the brick box the fire sits in, where the firebrick has cracked or the mortar between the bricks has burned out, and every fire after that pushes heat into the gaps and toward the framing behind the wall.
What we look at
We start with the firebox and the mortar joints, then the damper, because a damper that's rusted or warped won't close tight and lets warm air out of the house all winter. From there we look up into the smoke chamber, the part above the damper that narrows into the flue, as well as the hearth in front of the fireplace, since a cracked hearth extension lets embers fall through to the floor below.
How it gets fixed
Loose or cracked firebrick comes out and new brick goes back in with a mortar made for that heat, not the mortar that holds the outside of the chimney together. A bad damper gets replaced, or we put a damper on top of the chimney that seals when it's closed and keeps rain and animals out at the same time.
If any of this sounds like your chimney, call 320.414.0191. We'll come out, climb up, take pictures of what we find and show you before we quote anything.
Related: What our chimney inspection covers · Chimney repair in the north metro