How do you tell if a firebrick repair is urgently needed? Here is what to look for when it is time to call a professional to replace the fire brick if needed. In the Knoxville TN area, firebrick is frequently inspected as part of our Platinum Chimney Sweep Service. There are several reasons why the fire brick condition is so critical to the health of your fireplace or wood burning stove. Let’s go through the issues.
First, the brick serves two purposes. It protects the outer housing from high temperatures. A wood burning stove can produce temperatures up to 600 degrees internally. In addition, without the brick, the heat and flames would do major damage to the metal, access doors and surfaces. The brick forms a barrier between the fire and the walls of the stove or wood structure in a fireplace.
Second, the fire brick also absorbs and radiates heat inside the stove or fireplace. This allows the heat to continue to radiate out into the space even as the burning wood starts to fade.
In addition, ask for a full inspection of your flue and chimney cap.
After a thorough cleaning, inspect the insides to see if a firebrick repair is required.
By inspecting the stove or fireplace annually, any damage to the firebrick will quickly be seen. A reliable, professional chimney sweep company inspects this brick very closely for damage.
Firebrick and other masonry repairs in a chimney are usually not a do it yourself project. This is special brick and is sourced from different reliable vendors. However, outside patio fire pits use firebrick also and chimneys as well. Pay attention to the type of brick needed for your home’s safety and protection. For instance, brick is expensive. Only buy quality fire brick. Use qualified professionals to install it. Therefore, necessarily hire a contractor based on low price. A fire is expensive. Fire from a chimney issue is often very substantial. Even if it is contained early your insurance cost will go up. Check out the 5 star reviews of chimney sweep companies near youfor reliable installers of firebrick.
Is firebrick special?
Firebrick is used in chimneys on decks and around pools. We inspect these bricks as part of the home inspection process for chimneys also. Outdoor bricks are exposed to the elements. Rain harms bricks. Similarly, snow harms bricks. Freezing rain harms bricks. In other words, the weather breaks down the bricks in addition to the fire.
In conclusion, the brick is special because it stands up to very high temperatures. It is a special type of brick. First, it gets pitted and degrades over time. The effectiveness of the brick is lowered in protection. Secondly, we check for excessive pitting and crumbling of the brick. This indicates it is time to replace the brick. Brick can not be fixed or made new. Finally, it must be replaced for safe operation.
Locally owned family businesses rely on reviews and testimonials for the life blood of their business. We are so thankful for our customers! Just today, another 5 star review came in from the Clear Chimney Yelp page.
Every great review and testimonial tells us we are making a difference in the lives of others. Isn’t that what we are put on the earth to do? So often, the heating fireplaces or wood stoves are the only source of heat for people. When the nightly temperatures get below freezing, we make sure our customers are safe and warm.
We don’t want to brag. That is truly not us. We understand the best way to grow and stay in business is through friends and family of happy customers. It is very expensive (and not as productive) to spend loads of money advertising. Usually, the only people that benefit from this marketing are the advertisers.
Just a simple "Like" or post on "Google reviews" goes a long way!
Many potential customers tell us that they like to research a company before calling anyone for service. What do they research? A clean and easy website with good information is first. Second, they want to know what others think about the company. We call this the Amazon effect. They started the wide spread use of reviews and testimonials for products.
Our customers love to tell others about their experiences, good and not so good. Clear Chimney’s testimonial page has many different types of reviews from many different sources. We don’t cherry pick a particular review for a certain service.
We offer chimney sweeping, chimney cleaning, fireplace inserts, chimney caps, gas logs installed and serviced, and much, much more. Therefore, our reviews should indicate the happiness of our customers.
How you can help with Clear Chimney reviews and testimonials ...
Will you be our next customer that is featured on our review and testimonials page? Leave those reviews and help us grow our family business all around east Tennessee. If you have reservations about leaving a review, call us at (865) 999-7373 and let’s discuss what we need to do. Thank you all for your support over the past few years. We are truly blessed and humbled.
How can you tell if a company does not have a robust, enthusiastic customer base? Ask for references with phone numbers and names. Ask for pictures of similar jobs. As you will see on our site, we post a lot of pictures of many different jobs. It is to show folks that there are many options for installations and changes.
There are so many different chimney caps, fireplace inserts and gas or wood stoves to chose from we are happy to help you navigate the choices.
Thanks to you, this site is now featured in The Top Chimney Blogs on the net. We love sharing our skills and training with the world. Thank you for sharing us with your friends and family.
Here is our list of the best woods to burn in a fireplace. Out of the 9 common woods fireplace owners ignite, only 4 stand out as clean and hot. The type of wood you use in the fire place or stove will keep your chimney cleaner and safe.
So, let’s chat about what’s the cleanest wood to supply your fire place. Number one wood is CEDAR. This is the cleanest, best woods for maximum heat and little soot in your chimney.
Number 2 is the OAK family. White oak, pin oak and red oak wood is fantastic for burning in fireplaces or stoves. This wood is also clean and hot compared with other woods to use.
A cord of hot, clean wood.
Only the other side, these are not the best wood to burn in your fireplace if at all possible
Unless you are in a bad situation and will freeze, avoid these woods if at all possible. First, NEVER burn any wood that is not dry. Trees are best cut down in the winter time as the sap has drained out of the tree. It should be cut and stored for a year if possible. Wet wood will not burn correctly and is the leading cause of creosote build up and dangerous clogging in your chimney.
From worst to not so good – PINE. Bad wood to burn over time. Sappy and hardly worth the risk. Second, HICKORY is great for smoking meat but not so good for heating your home.
Completing the list of not so good woods to use is BLACK OAK, GUM TREE AND POPULAR. Popular is known as a weed tree. It grows very quickly but is terrible to use to heat your home.
If you have questions, call your reliable chimney sweep company before you buy the wood. Ask them if they have a reliable source of wood. Most companies will deal with several suppliers of firewood.
The companies share customers all of the time. Especially in the winter time, it can be hard to find good, dry clean wood. Some suppliers keep a low profile so they can service their long time customers in the winter. Our Knoxville chimney sweep companyhas several suppliers and each of us have a stack of business cards to hand out.
Try this little known trick to get firewood
Use the search engines to see who supplies the oak and cedar wood around your area. Ask neighbors and friends about firewood suppliers. Everyone has an opinion, right? Don’t overlook the groups and forums on social media. They are full of folks like you that will gladly point you to a source for oak and cedar wood. Remember, these are the best woods for your fireplace.
Often times, someone will be clearing land and cutting trees. They may reach out to you just to have a place to take the wood. If not, they will have to burn it or put it in a landfill. That is simply a waste of resources. They would much rather deliver the firewood to you and get a little extra money for their time.
