Does a fireplace I never use still need to be inspected?
Yes, and in Marshall the where-and-how matters as much as the whether. Steep hillside homes with tight access and the narrow buildings stacked against the mountainside downtown make chimney routing and draft tricky — and an idle fireplace on a hard-to-reach lot is one that gets skipped. The French Broad gorge's damp evenings then work on it unchecked.
Hard to reach is easy to neglect
Marshall's steep, limited-access lots and its multi-story downtown built right against the hillside mean fireplaces here already fight for good draft — and out-of-the-way properties are exactly the ones whose hearths go years without a look. Leave one dormant and the usual problems compound: nesting animals in an open flue, dust and spider webs in an unused gas pilot, and moisture that the tight mountainside setting traps against masonry. A cold, unused chimney on a shaded gorge lot never gets the warm, drying fires that keep a flue healthy. The harder a fireplace is to reach, the more a scheduled inspection earns its keep, because the alternative is a breakdown on a lot that's difficult to service in a hurry.
Gorge damp, and the county
The French Broad gorge funnels cool, damp air through Marshall most evenings, and that moisture rusts dampers and corrodes gas components in any fireplace that isn't run and dried regularly. Madison County sits about 25 minutes north of our Emma Road showroom, close enough to get ahead of winter if you book the inspection in late summer or fall. Whether the hearth runs on natural gas or propane, don't relight a dormant one — or trust the fireplace in a home you've just bought — until it's been inspected and, where gas work is involved, permitted and done by a licensed gas contractor. Call (828) 545-0525.
Fireplace help in Marshall
We install and service fireplaces throughout Marshall and the rest of Madison County — just 25 minutes north 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?