When is the best time of year to have a fireplace serviced?
Arden's best service month is September — late enough that the visit is fresh for burning season, early enough to beat the rush that hits when Royal Pines and Skyland reach for fireplaces that have sat idle since March. And in a town full of 1980s–90s open masonry fireplaces, the annual visit is also your yearly reminder of what that open flue costs you.
The open-fireplace tax
The 1980s and '90s neighborhoods that define Arden — Royal Pines, Skyland, the streets off Glenn Bridge and Avery Creek — were built around open masonry fireplaces, and open fireplaces are charming thieves: an open hearth can actually run a net heat loss, pulling more warm air up the chimney than the fire returns. The annual service covers what that fireplace needs to stay safe — sweep, damper, firebrick, liner, crown — and it's also the honest moment to run the numbers on a sealed insert, since modern inserts commonly run 70 percent efficient or better in the same opening. No pressure either way; the assessment and the estimate are free, and plenty of Arden homeowners keep the open fire for what it is and simply keep it maintained. A September visit also catches the classic idle-season failure — dust and cobwebs choking a pilot that behaved fine in spring — while the fix is a cleaning instead of a cold-week service call.
Fifteen minutes south, gas on the mains
Arden is 15 minutes south of our showroom at 629 Emma Rd and sits on the natural gas mains, which makes both the service visit and any future upgrade straightforward. The town's commercial side is real too — Biltmore Park's retail and office spaces run gas fireplaces that should be checked before the holiday season, not during it. Residential or commercial, tune-ups start at $189, permits for bigger work run through Buncombe County with the inspector met by us, and September slots go to the people who call in August. 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.