Is it safe to use a wood fireplace with cracked flue tiles or a damaged chimney liner?
No. Swannanoa is rebuilding, and that's exactly why to take this seriously: the Grovemont-area 1940s–60s homes with original masonry, and the houses coming back from storm damage, are prime candidates for cracked flue tiles. A damaged liner lets a wood fire's carbon monoxide and heat into the framing — so if you're firing an old or storm-stressed chimney, stop and get a camera down it first.
Old masonry, storm stress, damp valley
The original fireboxes around Grovemont and the Owen area have decades of fires behind them, and river-valley fog, cold-air pooling, and damp air are hard on masonry — moisture in the tile joints plus freeze-thaw is a reliable recipe for cracks. Homes that rode out the storm may have taken structural stress you can't see from inside, chimney included. A crack in the flue doesn't look like anything from the hearth; it shows up on a camera as the gap where creosote collects and hot gases reach brick.
Rebuild it to stay warm off-grid
If you're renovating anyway, solve the liner as part of it. Reline with stainless, or install an insert with its own liner — and a lot of Swannanoa households, after days without power, want a hearth that heats when the grid is down. A sealed gas insert with battery-backup ignition or an EPA wood insert both do that. Swannanoa's on natural gas, so the tie-in is licensed, permitted with Buncombe County, and pressure-tested. We're 15 minutes east. Call (828) 545-0525.
Fireplace help in Swannanoa
We install and service fireplaces throughout Swannanoa and the rest of Buncombe County — just 15 minutes east from our Asheville-area showroom.
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