My fireplace or chimney was flooded during Hurricane Helene — is it safe to use?
No — if Helene's water reached your Asheville firebox or chimney base, keep it cold until we've inspected it. We're headquartered right here on Emma Road, and floodwater wrecks gas valves and control boards while quietly saturating the masonry liners common in Montford and North Asheville. Don't light it first — call (828) 545-0525.
Two kinds of Asheville fireplace, two different failures
Asheville's housing splits this problem in half. Historic homes in Montford, Kenilworth, and North Asheville usually have original masonry fireplaces, where a flood washes out mortar joints, saturates a clay flue liner, and can shift the chimney at its base — none of it visible from the hearth. Newer South and West Asheville builds lean on clean-face direct-vent gas, where the risk hides in the sealed valve and ignition board behind the glass. We inspect whichever you own and tell you plainly what came through the water intact and what has to go.
Reconnecting a flooded gas line is licensed work
A gas control valve or electronic ignition that sat in floodwater gets replaced, not nursed back — silt and corrosion don't wipe off the sealing surfaces, and a valve that sticks isn't worth gambling a house on. Running or restoring that gas connection is licensed work in North Carolina, which is our lane and no one else's. Being headquartered in West Asheville means we reach your home quickly, pull the Buncombe County permit, meet the inspector, and hand you a written report that also backs your insurance claim. If you smell gas near the unit, don't test it — leave and call from outside.
Before the next cold snap
Asheville nights still drop into the 20s well into early spring, so a damaged hearth left unresolved becomes a real problem at the next cold snap. Because we're based right here in West Asheville, we can get to your home quickly. Call (828) 545-0525 and we'll schedule the inspection, then walk you through repair or replacement with no pressure and no upselling.
Fireplace help in Asheville
We install and service fireplaces throughout Asheville and the rest of Buncombe County — we're headquartered right here.
Related questions
- A storm or falling tree damaged my chimney — what needs to be checked before I use the fireplace?
- Does homeowners insurance cover replacing a flood- or storm-damaged fireplace?
- After Hurricane Helene, what's the best fireplace setup so my family is never without heat again?
- Should I have the fireplace and chimney inspected before using them in a WNC home I just bought?
- Can a gas fireplace heat my house through a multi-day outage like the one after Hurricane Helene?