Fireplace Repair in Palos Hills, IL

Fireplace repair in Palos Hills

Most fireboxes here sit in ranch and split-level sidewalls built in the 1960s and 70s. The brick is corbelled out over the foundation. Freeze-thaw works on the face brick first. Mortar joints crumble, brick faces flake off in sheets. That spalling tells you water is already inside the chimney core. The firebox below it often shows the same story.

Inside the open masonry firebox, we look at refractory panels and firebrick joints. Hairline cracks in the back wall are normal. Gaps you can slide a key into are not. Fire clay refractory mortar goes in those joints, not regular mortar. Regular mortar fails fast under direct flame.

Factory-built units are different work. Heatilator, Majestic and Superior boxes in chase framing have replaceable panels and parts. Some models no longer have parts made. When the steel firebox itself is burned through or warped, repair stops being honest and replacement starts.

Gas log retrofits bring their own failures. Dampers clamped shut or partly closed. Logs set wrong against the burner, which soots the glass and the brick. Clearance to the mantel ignored.

Smoke rolling into the room is usually not the firebox. Tight retrofitted windows left those postwar houses with no combustion air path.