Gas Fireplace Repair in Prospect Heights, IL

Gas fireplace lights, then shuts off

That drop-out is usually the thermocouple or thermopile. Millivolt pilot systems generate their own current. A weak thermopile reads low under load. The valve closes and the burner dies. Soot on the pilot hood causes the same thing. Spider webbing inside the pilot orifice is common after a summer idle. We check millivolt output before replacing parts. Guessing gets expensive fast.

Prospect Heights has two different installs. Older masonry fireplaces retrofitted with gas log sets vent up a clay tile liner. Those need the damper blocked open. Rusted, seized dampers are everywhere here from years of water entry. The other is sealed direct-vent or an insert, often in a factory-built prefab with metal chimney in a wood-framed chase. Sealed units fail differently: bad gaskets, cracked glass, fogged white film on the inside, blocked coaxial termination.

Soot on a gas log set is a signal, not cosmetic. It means poor combustion or logs sitting wrong on the burner. Log placement is specified by the manufacturer for a reason.

Backdrafting is a Chicago-area problem in tightened-up houses. A bath fan or range hood can pull a cold flue backwards. We look at the whole house, not just the firebox.

Some older unlined flues should not carry gas at all. We will tell you plainly.