Does a fireplace I never use still need to be inspected?
Yes. Arden's 1980s and 90s homes in Royal Pines and Skyland were built around open masonry fireplaces that pull heat out of a room even cold — and the ones sitting unused are worse. A dormant open hearth invites nesting animals and takes on moisture, so it needs inspecting before you relight it or upgrade it.
Tired open hearths, left cold
The open masonry fireplaces in Arden's Skyland and Royal Pines neighborhoods are draft-prone by design — they lose room heat up the flue — and many owners have simply stopped using them. That's when the quieter problems set in: an unused, open chimney is an easy nest site for birds and squirrels, and with no fires to dry it, moisture settles into the flue and firebox and the valley's freeze-thaw cracks crowns and mortar. An idle hearth here isn't resting; it's slowly collecting the damage that makes relighting risky. If you've decided to bring one back, have it inspected first — and if the draftiness is why you quit using it, a sealed insert turns that tired firebox into a real heater while the inspection confirms the flue and gas side are sound.
Commercial, and the county on the gas side
Arden also carries the Biltmore Park retail and office spaces, where decorative gas fireplaces sit idle much of the year and still need periodic eyes on the gas connections and pilot. Whether it's a Royal Pines living room or a commercial lobby, relighting or converting to a sealed insert runs through Buncombe County permitting on the gas side, which we pull and inspect as a licensed gas contractor. We're only about 15 minutes south of the Emma Road showroom, so getting ahead of winter on an unused unit is easy. Call (828) 545-0525.
Fireplace help in Arden
We install and service fireplaces throughout Arden and the rest of Buncombe County — just 15 minutes south from our Asheville-area showroom.
Related questions
- I just moved into a home with a fireplace — should I have it inspected before using it?
- Do I need a chimney inspection when buying or selling a home?
- Why is there moisture or rust in a fireplace I rarely use?
- How do I keep birds and animals from nesting in my fireplace vent or chimney?
- How should I shut down and protect a fireplace in a second home that sits vacant for months?