Why doesn't my wood-burning insert draft as well as it used to?
In Brevard, before you blame creosote, consider the rain — Transylvania County catches 80-plus inches a year, and that water is brutal on a chimney. A rusted, seizing damper, a cracked crown letting moisture into the flue, or masonry so damp it chills the exhaust will all cut an insert's draft. A sweep and inspection sorts water damage from soot.
Rain is the local draft-killer
Downtown Brevard homes and the cabins up toward Pisgah and Connestee Falls share one enemy: moisture. Our wet season from March into June works on the crown and cap until brick spalls and steel rusts, and a damper that no longer opens fully throttles the draw. Water sitting in a porous flue also cools it — a cold, wet chimney simply won't pull like a dry one.
None of that is creosote, but it feels identical from the couch: a fire that won't get going and smoke that hangs.
Then the usual buildup
Once we've ruled out water, the liner is next. An insert's low, steady burn coats the stainless faster than an open fire, and a season's glaze narrows the path enough to soften the draw and blacken the glass.
A proper sweep opens it back up; a stainless cap and a sound crown keep Brevard's rain from undoing the work.
One trip from Asheville
We're forty minutes southwest, and a single inspection reads all of it — crown, cap, damper, liner, and gasket. If the crown or a reline needs real work, we handle the hearth and gas side and pull the Transylvania County permit where it applies. Call (828) 545-0525 to get eyes on it before the season.
Fireplace help in Brevard
We install and service fireplaces throughout Brevard and the rest of Transylvania County — just 40 minutes southwest from our Asheville-area showroom.