Top sealing damper installation for homes in Surfside
The estimate names the damper, its material and what happens to the old throat damper.
- Owned and run locally
- Available for same-day service
- Fully licensed and insured
- Family owned and run
Clues your fireplace needs a better damper
- Throat damper rusted shut or missing
- Birds or insects coming down the flue
- Old damper plate stuck part-way
- Plans to leave the fireplace idle
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Choosing a chimney top damper in Surfside
Built for wood-burning fireplaces
Top sealing dampers are made for fireplaces that burn wood. One maker's instructions state plainly that its damper is not for use on any kind of gas-burning fireplace or appliance. Product pages mark several other models the same way.
That is why the first question we ask is what burns in your fireplace. If it burns wood only, a top damper may be an option. If anything else burns there, or is planned, the answer changes, and we read the product limits and the appliance instructions before going any further.
Choosing the side for the handle
The handle goes on whichever side of the firebox you find easier to reach. If you are right-handed and the fireplace sits in a corner, one side may be much more practical than the other. The instructions leave that choice to the owner.
We ask before drilling. Think about where furniture sits, where you stand to light a fire and who else in the house will use it. The handle should be reachable without leaning far into the firebox, and a quick test pull before we leave confirms that it is.
A top damper that will not open
A lid that stays shut when the handle is released usually has one of a few causes. The cable may have slipped or frayed, the spring may have weakened, the hinge may have corroded or the gasket may have stuck to the frame.
Leave the fireplace unlit while the lid is shut. Tell us what the handle does when you release it, whether it moves freely or feels locked. We check the lid, hinge, spring and cable from the roof and the firebox, and we explain whether a part or a new damper is needed.
Open area when the damper sits under a cap
Where a masonry chimney has a rain cap, the Florida Building Code sets a minimum open area under the cap in relation to the flue it serves. A damper fitted beneath a cap takes up some of the space between the flue and the lid of the cap.
That space still has to let smoke out freely with the damper open. We measure the height available under the cap before choosing a damper that sits beneath one. If there is not enough room, the cap may need raising or replacing, and that is quoted separately.
Included in your damper visit in Surfside
- Fireplace type and fuel confirmed
- Seal checked from the roof
- Operating walk-through at handover
- Maker's instructions left with you
Top damper questions, answered for Surfside
Can I add a top damper if gas burns in the firebox?
Usually not with the common products. A vented decorative gas appliance needs the damper held fully open while it burns, and several top damper products are marked not for that use. We read both sets of instructions before giving you an answer.
Can I fit a top damper myself?
One maker's instructions recommend professional installation, and the work happens on the roof and inside the firebox. We would rather you stayed off the roof. If you have already bought one, we can check whether it suits your fireplace.
What should I mention when I call about a damper?
Say whether the fireplace burns wood or anything else, what your current damper does or fails to do and whether anything else vents through the chimney. That lets us plan the visit to your home in Surfside.
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Local service. Careful repairs. A fireplace worth coming home to.
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Chimney & Fireplace Brands We Work With
DuraVent 
Olympia Chimney and Venting 
Copperfield Chimney Supply 
Rutland 
Heatilator 
Heat & Glo