How to Avoid Chimney Repair Scams Angies List

Ancient fire pits were sometimes constructed in the floor, within caves, or in the middle of a hut or dwelling. Evidence of prehistoric, man-made fires is present on all five inhabited continents. The drawback of early indoor flame pits was that they produced hazardous or irritating smoke inside the house.Fire pits developed into raised hearths in structures, but ventilation smoke depended on open windows or openings in roofs. The great hall typically needed a centrally located hearth, where an open flame burned with the smoke rising to the vent in the roof. Louvers were developed during the Middle Ages to allow the roof vents to be covered so rain and snow would not enter.

Additionally throughout the Middle Ages, smoke canopies were devised to stop smoke from spreading through a room and vent it outside via a wall or roof. These could be put against rock walls, rather than taking up the center of the space, and this allowed smaller chambers to be heated.Chimneys were devised in northern Europe in the 11th or 12th centuries and largely fixed the problem of fumes, more reliably venting smoke outside. They made it feasible to provide the fireplace a draft, and made it feasible to put fireplaces in multiple rooms in buildings conveniently. They didn't come into general usage immediately, however, as they were expensive to develop and maintain.

Benjamin Franklin developed a convection room for the fireplace which greatly enhanced the efficacy of fireplaces and wood stoves. He also enhanced the airflow by pulling air from a basement and venting a longer area on very top. In the later 18th century, Count Rumford made a fireplace with a tall, shallow firebox that has been better at drawing the smoke up and out of the construction. The shallow design also improved greatly the amount of radiant warmth projected to the space. Rumford's layout is the basis for modern kitchens.

Instead it depended on simple designs with little unnecessary ornamentation. From the 1890s the Aesthetic movement gave way to the Arts and Crafts movement, in which the emphasis was still placed on providing quality gems. Stone fireplaces now have been a symbol of prosperity, which to a degree remains the notion today.A fireplace is a construction made of brick, stone or metal made to include a fire. Fireplaces are used for the relaxing ambiance that they create and for heating a room. Modern fireplaces vary in heat efficiency, based upon the design.

Historically they were utilized for heating a dwelling, cooking, and heating water for laundry and domestic uses. A fire is contained in a firebox or firepit; a chimney or alternative flue allows exhaust to escape.

Related Images with How to Avoid Chimney Repair Scams Angies List

Indianapolis Fireplace Repair Service Steve Scully Fireplace Repair

On the exterior there's frequently a corbeled brick crown, where the projecting courses of brick act as a drip course to keep rainwater from running down the outside walls. A cap, hood, or shroud functions to keep rainwater from the exterior of the chimney; rain at the chimney is a much larger problem in chimneys lined with impervious flue tiles or metallic liners than with the traditional masonry chimney, that divides up all but the most violent rain. Some chimneys have a spark arrestor integrated into the cap or crown.

The EPA writes"Smoke may smell great, but it is not good for you.

Types of fireplacesArtificial fireplaces are made with sheet metal or glass fire boxes.Electric fireplaces could be built-in replacements for gas or wood or retrofit with log inserts or electric fireboxes.

Ventless Fireplaces (duct free/room-venting fireplaces) are fueled by either gel, liquid propane, bottled gas or natural gas. In the USA, some states and local counties have laws limiting these types of fireplaces. There are also air quality management issues because of the quantity of moisture that they release into the room atmosphere, and oxygen sensor and carbon dioxide sensors are security essentials. Direct vent fireplaces are fueled by liquid propane or natural gas. They are totally sealed from the area that is heated, and port all exhaust gasses to the exterior of the structure.

DIY How to Repair Cracked Fireplace Brick For what its worth

AccessoriesFor the inside, common in current Western cultures include grates, fireguards, log boxes, andirons, pellet baskets, and fire puppies, all of which cradle gas and quicken burning. A grate (or fire grate) is a framework, usually of iron bars, to maintain fuel for a fire. Heavy metal firebacks are sometimes used to capture and re-radiate heat, to protect the rear of the fireplace, and as decoration. Fenders are low metal frames set in front of the fireplace to include embers, soot and ash. For fireplace tending, tools include pokers, bellows, tongs, shovels, brushes and tool racks.

As time passes, the purpose of fireplaces has changed from one of necessity to one of visual interest. Early ones were more fire pits than contemporary fireplaces. They were used for warmth on cold days and nights, as well as for cooking. They also functioned as a gathering place inside the house. These fire pits were usually centered within a space, allowing more individuals to collect around it.

Avenue Road Masonry: Masonry Fireplace Fireplace Repair Fireplace Rebuild

Building Repair Maintenance – Builder, Plasterer, Tradesman, Galway

Many defects were found in ancient fireplace designs. Along with the Industrial Revolution, came large scale housing developments, necessitating a standardization of fireplaces. The most famous fireplace performers of the time were the Adam Brothers. They perfected a kind of fireplace design that was used for generations. It was smaller, more brightly colored, with a emphasis on the quality of the materials used in their construction, as opposed to their dimensions.

By the 1800s most new fireplaces were made up of 2 parts, the surround and the add. The encircle comprised of the mantlepiece and sides supports, usually in wood, marble or granite. The fit was where the fire burned, and was built of cast iron often backed with ornamental tiles. As well as providing heat, the fireplaces of the Victorian age were thought to bring a cozy ambiance to homes.

Building Repair Maintenance – Builder, Plasterer, Tradesman, Galway Video

Some fireplace units include a blower which transfers more of the fireplace's heat to the atmosphere via convection, leading to a more evenly heated space and a decrease heating load. Fireplace efficiency can also be increased with the use of a fireback, a sheet of metal that sits behind the fire and reflects heat back into the room. Firebacks are traditionally produced from cast iron, but can also be made from stainless steel. Efficiency is a complicated notion though with open hearth fireplaces. Most efficacy tests consider only the impact of heating of the atmosphere. An open fireplace isn't, and never was, intended to heat the atmosphere. A fireplace with a fireback is a toaster, and has done so since the 15th century. The ideal way to gauge the output signal of a fireplace is if you detect you are turning the thermostat down or up.

Most older fireplaces have a comparatively low efficiency score. Standard, modern, wood-burning masonry fireplaces though have an efficiency rating of at least 80% (legal minimum necessity such as in Salzburg/Austria). To boost efficiency, fireplaces may also be altered by inserting special heavy fireboxes designed to burn cleaner and can reach efficiencies as high as 80 percent in heating the air. These modified fireplaces are usually equipped with a massive fire window, enabling an efficient heating system in two phases. During the first phase the initial heat is offered through a large glass while the flame is burning. In this time period the structure, constructed of refractory bricks, absorbs the heat. This heat is then equally radiated for many hours during the second phase. Masonry fireplaces with no glass fire window only offer heat radiated from the surface. Based on outside temperatures 1 to two daily firings are sufficient to guarantee a constant room temperature.fireplace repair