When is the best time of year to have a fireplace serviced?
Leicester heats with wood more than almost any town this close to Asheville, so the honest answer here is: book the sweep and service in late summer, before first fire. Creosote from last season, propane systems on the big rural properties, and valleys that run 5 to 8 degrees colder than town on clear nights all point to the same August-to-September window.
Wood-first country
Out Sandy Mush, Turkey Creek, and the Newfound valleys, wood isn't nostalgia — it's the heating plan, and the annual service call looks accordingly different than it does in town. First job is the sweep: a winter's creosote out of the flue before the first fire goes in, not after. Then the working inspection — firebrick, baffles, door gaskets and glass on stoves; damper, liner, and crown on open fireplaces — because equipment that carries a real heating load wears in ways an occasional-use fireplace never shows. And Leicester's load is real: cold-air drainage runs these valleys 5 to 8 degrees colder than Asheville on clear winter nights, which stretches the burn season on both ends. A stove doing most of your heating deserves its checkup every single year, no exceptions.
Propane, and the power question
The gas side of Leicester is mostly propane, tanked on the big properties, and the annual visit covers it: regulator, connections, and pressures verified on the appliance side — licensed gas work, ours — while the supplier owns the tank. One more local wrinkle worth raising during your visit: some of the more remote places out here have limited electrical capacity, so it's worth asking which of your equipment actually needs power to run. Millivolt gas units don't — a detail this county learned to value when Helene took the grid down for days. We're 15 minutes west of our Asheville showroom; tune-ups start at $189, and August books easier than October. Call (828) 545-0525.
Fireplace help in Leicester
We install and service fireplaces throughout Leicester and the rest of Buncombe County — just 15 minutes west from our Asheville-area showroom.