Maintenance & Repairs

Overview of Maintenance & Repair Services

All fuel burning appliances need proper on-going maintenance to continue to perform at their best. We offer a full range of maintenance and repair services. 

Maintenance services are designed to keep your appliance clean and prevent uneccessary damage. Repair services are needed when age and stress has caused the appliance to fail or perform poorly. After repair your appliance or chimney will be back to it's original condition, ready for more years of service. In those cases where repair is not feasible we will advise you of upgrade or replacement options.

Following is a brief explanation of what is included in each type of service. Variation in appliance and chimney design may require adjustment to the included tasks on a case-by-case basis, but this should give you a general idea of what each type of service includes.

(Note: for the purposes of this document we use the term "stove" to refer to stoves, inserts, and fireplaces)

Wood Stove Service - Basic (Level 1)

A basic, or Level 1, wood stove service is what we call a "Tune-up". It is recommended that this service be done annually. We inspect all visible surfaces, adjust all handles and air controls as needed, check catalytic (if applicable), clean glass, clean interior walls of firebox, remove ash from ash pan and stove bottom/grates, provide evaluation of stoves condition and recommendations for operation. We also replace the gaskets if neccessary. (Parts and materials are always additional)

This level of service does not include removal of internal parts (unless easily done with no special equipment needed) and is usually limited to a simple cleaning and gasket check. Many homeowners can perform this service by themselves. In some cases this type of service can be performed by a seperate chimney sweep. 

Due to our limited schedule we recommend that you learn to do most of your own "Tune-ups" and call us when you need more extensive work performed. If you prefer, we do offer annual basic/tune-up services along with basic chimney cleaning (see below for chimney services).

Wood Stove Service - Extensive (Level 2)

Most stoves will require more than a basic cleaning after about three years of heavy use. An extensive, or Level 2, wood service is what we call a "Refurbish" and includes everything in the basic tune-up plus the following:

Removal, cleaning and re-installation of the interior parts such as firebacks, baffles, dampers, bricks, air tubes, refractory chambers, catalytics, shaker grates, etc. Any parts found to be worn will be replaced. Note that the cost of replacement parts is always additional. If your stove does not need any parts you will be charged only for the labor for the extensive service (refurbish). If your stove needs replacement parts you will be charged for both parts and labor.

Every installation is different and everyone uses their stove at different levels. Some stoves will not need an extensive service for more than 10 years. But, on average, if you are using your stove every day during the heating season your stove will need an extensive service at about three year intervals, in addition to your yearly tune-ups. In some cases, an extensive service may be needed annually. The heavier the use, the more extensive maintenance is needed.

Wood Stove Service - Rebuild (Level 3)

Some stoves allow us to break them down and completely rebuild them from the bottom up. The result is just as if you had a new stove. In most cases this rebuild, or Level 3, wood service is limited to cast iron stoves. Most steel stoves cannot be rebuilt effectively. A rebuild service includes everything in the Basic and Extensive services above, plus the following:

Complete dis-assembly of stove, clean, paint, re-gasket and cement, and re-assembly to original factory condition. 

Some cast iron stoves may require a rebuild to properly re-seal the cemented joints after about ten years of heavy use. However, everyone uses their stoves a little differently so some stove may need a rebuild more often, or may never need a rebuild at all.

Repaint with Service

Due to the high temperature of wood stoves it is comon for the paint to wear thin and lose it's finish after several years of use. We offer a repaint service along with any of our other services. You may chose whatever color you like, although most people will choose to repaint with the original color as it came from the factory.

While more commonly needed for wood stoves, gas and pellet stoves may be painted also.

Gas Stove Service - Basic (Level 1)

A basic, or Level 1, gas service is a basic cleaning and inspection of the gas stove and includes the following:

Clean and inspect the glass, logs, and burner. Check operation and adjust air shutters, vent restricter and valve, if needed. Check igniter, pilot, thermocouple and thermopile. Check switches, including remote controls. Clean fan, if installed and accessible. Refresh ember materials as needed. Replacement parts are additional, if needed.

Some gas stoves need a basic service annually. Sometimes a basic service is not needed more than every three years. You should not go longer than three years before doing a basic service. Some home owners can do simple cleaning themselves (glass, logs, embers, etc.) but we recommend you call our technicians to perform the necessary technical service checks.

Gas Stove Service - Extensive (Level 2)

Some gas stoves require more time and effort to properly perform the cleaning and inspection of all the necessary parts. In these cases we call it an extensive, or Level 2, gas service and the charge is adjusted to reflect the difficulty of the job. 

A common situation requiring an extensive gas service is a gas insert where the entire unit needs to be removed to service the fan or gas line. Also, some older installations were installed with hard pipe gas supply lines instead of the more current flexible connections. These types of installs usually require twice the amount of time and effort to service. We offer to change the hard pipe to flexible pipe where appropriate.

Pellet Stove Service - Extensive (Level 2)

Pellet stoves require regular cleaning - in some cases general cleaning must be done weekly. We do not offer regular general (basic, or Level 1) cleaning services for pellet stoves. This is the responsibility of the homeowner or user of the pellet stove. However, we do off the more extensive, or Level 2, annual cleaning and maintenance service required for pellet stoves. This annual service includes the following:

Clean and scrape firepot and interior of firebox, clean heat exchanger, clean exhaust path and combustion blower, clean exhaust vent and cap. Check operation of all fans, motors and controls. Remove pellets from hopper and clean pellet feeder mechanism. Clean glass. Check and replace gaskets, as needed. Re-fill hopper and test burn and proper operation. Parts are additional.

Chimney Sweep Service - Wood/coal stove, Level 1

A Level 1 wood stove chimney sweep is limited to brushing and vacuuming of the flue (the chimney and connector) and the interior of the stove. All loose soot is removed from the flue, and the cap, and the entire system is inspected for safety. This type of sweep is usually limited to metal chimney systems ("Metalbestos" style chimneys or fully lined with stainless steel) but can sometimes be performed on properly constructed masonry chimneys.

When a Level 1 sweep is combined with any of the stove services we call this a "Sweep with Service" and we price these services together at a discounted rate.

Chimney Sweep Service - Wood/coal stove, Level 2

When a chimney requires a lot of extra time and effort to properly remove the soot, or creosote build-up, it becomes a Level 2 sweep.  Special equipment is used for creosote removal and/or for access to the chimney top (scaffolding, lifts, etc.). If the roof is very steep or very high, or if the chimney is very dirty, it will probably be a Level 2 sweep job. Level 2 sweeps are priced according to difficulty.

Notes about Chimney Services

We do not offer general chimney sweep services and we do not advertise our business as a chimney sweep. We are stove technicians and we offer some simple chimney services as a courtesy to our customers. In some cases we may decline to be your regular chimney sweep and may refer you to another qualified chimney sweep company. Services may not be available on all chimney systems even if we installed the chimney. Each chimney job will be assessed on a case-by-case basis and will be at our discretion.

In all cases, the chimney and stove must be installed to manufacturer's instructions and applicable building codes as enforced by the local authority having jurisdiction. All chimneys and installation requirements will be inspected by our staff and the chimney and stove must pass inspection prior to performing any chimney services. If the chimney does not pass inspection an estimate may be prepared to repair the code defects at the customer's option. All repairs must be performed by either our company or a qualified contractor and then re-inspected prior to our company agreeing to become your regular chimney sweep.

We do not generally offer chimney sweep services for oil or gas furnaces. Our sweep services are designed for solid-fuel appliances only. However, if needed, we may be able to assist your oil company if they need help properly maintaining your furnace chimney. Each job will be assessed on a case-by-case basis

We do not offer services on commercial chimneys.

Chimney Repair Services - Basic

Some masonry chimneys may require some minor repair to the cap, or crown. Sometimes the damper or cleanout door needs replacement. We offer to do many minor masonry chimney repair jobs as add-ons to our chimney sweep services. Each repair job will be priced according to the needs of the job. We offer basic, or minor, repairs only. If your chimney needs extensive repairs we will refer you to a qualified masonry chimney repair company.

Diagnostic/Evaluation Services

Sometimes a stove repair may not be worth the cost of parts and labor. In order to help you determine the viability of extensive repairs we offer an evaluation service. This evaluation will include a complete inspection of the stove and an estimate of the costs of repair. If you decide to do the repair yourself we can provide a list of materials needed. This is a fee based service.

Thank you for your interest in our maintenance and repair services. Please visit our pages for Installation Services, Consultation Services and Delivery for information on other services offered.