I am restoring the fireplace in my parent's house built in 1977. They have an old Heatilator unit with four openings located in the brick surrounding the fireplace. The bottom two openings, located to the right and left of the fireplace, have fans in them that need replacing. The room air enters here and is heated in the back of the metal firebox behind the fireplace, and blown back out into the room from the top two openings, also located on the right and left of the top of the fireplace. The bottom of the fireplace is brick and a few inches deeper than the brick in front of the fireplace. The metal firebox covers the right, left, back, and top of the fireplace. There is a damper on the top part.
I plan on cleaning the inside of the firebox with oven cleaner and wiping everything out I can with rags. It looks like there will be a lot of scraping involved as well. Then I will use high temperature paint and primer to restore the looks of the inside of the firebox, followed by a clear coat on all sides including the masonry bottom. Is this what I need to do?
I noticed that there is a seal of what appears to be some kind of mortar that is about an inch thick that is located between the brick and metal of the firebox on the front of the fireplace. It covers three sides of the front of the firebox. The left, right, and top of the fireplace opening. Anyway, this mortar or seal is blackened and chipped in several places around the front of the firebox. It needs to be replaced. What is there still, will have to be chipped out first and then all the surfaces cleaned. Once this is done the new stuff will be added.
My question is: How do I do this and what materials do I need? Can someone show me a link to a video or pics where I can see what's involved? I am a do it yourselfer and need a little advice on the project. I'm having a roofer repair what's on the roof and I am going to repair the fireplace doors and what's inside the fireplace, if I can.
The roofer is repairing the chipping or scolling on the chimney bricks and mortar, the flashing, the crown, replacing the top, and putting a water-proofing treatment on the crown and brick. They will repair the shingles, if needed as well. I have to fix the interior though. Please let me know if I have a good idea of what I need to do and how to do it. Repairing the mortar, sealing the firebox to the brick of the front of the fireplace is my main concern. I know there is fireplace mortar out there, but that's all I know. I an unsure how to apply it? The space is narrow, about an inch and a half, and I was wondering if some kind of thin tile is what is needed to go in between the masonry and metal. If this is not a homeowner project, then someone please tell me who to call. There are no fireplace repair people here, and only one chimney sweep I can find.
I had the Heatilator company from a surrounding city come out, and they said the firebox was not warped and in good shape. They took pictures of everything, and told me the copper liner in the chimney was still shiny and appeared unused. The curtain-like metal screen on the fireplace doors need fixing, the mortar seal I just described needs repairing , and all the issues on the roof have to be addressed. They wanted quite a bit of money to do it all.
On a trip to the mailbox, I noticed the step flashing on at least one side of the chimney had peeled away and is laying on the roof on its side. I informed my insurance agent and they recommended a roofer look at everything on the roof. They told me they fix chimneys and could do everything up there the Heatilator people could do. The Heatilator people; however, do not fix roofs; so I did not hire them. The roofers said they will have to start the repair to see if there is any water damage from the flashing being pulled down. However, they do not fix the inside of the chimney or fireplace. that's my part of the project. So here is where I stand.
Please advise me
I plan on cleaning the inside of the firebox with oven cleaner and wiping everything out I can with rags. It looks like there will be a lot of scraping involved as well. Then I will use high temperature paint and primer to restore the looks of the inside of the firebox, followed by a clear coat on all sides including the masonry bottom. Is this what I need to do?
I noticed that there is a seal of what appears to be some kind of mortar that is about an inch thick that is located between the brick and metal of the firebox on the front of the fireplace. It covers three sides of the front of the firebox. The left, right, and top of the fireplace opening. Anyway, this mortar or seal is blackened and chipped in several places around the front of the firebox. It needs to be replaced. What is there still, will have to be chipped out first and then all the surfaces cleaned. Once this is done the new stuff will be added.
My question is: How do I do this and what materials do I need? Can someone show me a link to a video or pics where I can see what's involved? I am a do it yourselfer and need a little advice on the project. I'm having a roofer repair what's on the roof and I am going to repair the fireplace doors and what's inside the fireplace, if I can.
The roofer is repairing the chipping or scolling on the chimney bricks and mortar, the flashing, the crown, replacing the top, and putting a water-proofing treatment on the crown and brick. They will repair the shingles, if needed as well. I have to fix the interior though. Please let me know if I have a good idea of what I need to do and how to do it. Repairing the mortar, sealing the firebox to the brick of the front of the fireplace is my main concern. I know there is fireplace mortar out there, but that's all I know. I an unsure how to apply it? The space is narrow, about an inch and a half, and I was wondering if some kind of thin tile is what is needed to go in between the masonry and metal. If this is not a homeowner project, then someone please tell me who to call. There are no fireplace repair people here, and only one chimney sweep I can find.
I had the Heatilator company from a surrounding city come out, and they said the firebox was not warped and in good shape. They took pictures of everything, and told me the copper liner in the chimney was still shiny and appeared unused. The curtain-like metal screen on the fireplace doors need fixing, the mortar seal I just described needs repairing , and all the issues on the roof have to be addressed. They wanted quite a bit of money to do it all.
On a trip to the mailbox, I noticed the step flashing on at least one side of the chimney had peeled away and is laying on the roof on its side. I informed my insurance agent and they recommended a roofer look at everything on the roof. They told me they fix chimneys and could do everything up there the Heatilator people could do. The Heatilator people; however, do not fix roofs; so I did not hire them. The roofers said they will have to start the repair to see if there is any water damage from the flashing being pulled down. However, they do not fix the inside of the chimney or fireplace. that's my part of the project. So here is where I stand.
Please advise me
