Our Company Blog
Protection from Water with Chases and Shrouds
Water can be the most damaging thing to your masonry, whether inside or outside. It can lower efficiency of your fireplace, causing your fire to be more difficult to light and to burn more wood than necessary. It can stain your masonry, rust your mechanical parts, and even deteriorate the masonry itself–breaking apart the brick and mortar until it gaps and crumbles. When you’re planning and designing your outdoor fireplaces and chimneys, make sure you’re also considering water protection. Protect your investments and your home. Add value to your home with IBD Outdoor Rooms, and protect that value with a chase and shroud.
Chase Covers
When you order your unit, make sure you purchase all the parts necessary to bring it together properly. When you order your chase cover and shroud with the rest of your unit, it will all arrive together. When your IBD Outdoor Rooms delivery arrives, it is ready to assemble. All you have to do is get the order right, and we can help! You can choose stainless steel or stainless steel with a copper dress out skirt. Many homeowners prefer the second option because from the ground it looks like the entire thing is copper.
Chase Covers with Hole – If the unit you’ve chosen has a flue pipe, you need a chase cover with a hole. This will protect the stone from water damage while also allowing the smoke to escape.
Chase Covers without Hole – This chase cover is for units that are “pipeless” or vent-free. They don’t need to vent, but the chase cover adds a complimentary look to your fireplace.
Shrouds
The shroud fits together with a chase cover. Where the chase cover protects the chimney from water, the shroud protects the flue opening itself, AND completes the look you may be looking for. Chase shrouds come in stainless steel or copper, with an optional powder coating of stainless steel and many different styles, including Roman, Grecian, Artisan, and Gothic. Make sure you check them out before making your choice.
Gothic Chase Shroud Extension – This model is used to give a chimney more height and massive appearance. The base can be Roman or Grecian style to compliment your style.
Care and Installation
When your delivery arrives, it will be ready to install, but we do not recommend doing the work yourself. Once your order is completed, and BEFORE your unit arrives, make sure you contact a professional in your area that can install the unit. Only a licensed contractor who is NFI-certified should install fire units, fireplaces, and chimneys. This will ensure any warranties are honored and that the work and the unit adheres to municipal and federal safety codes.
Ready to get started? Start with us by calling 704-960-4530 and we’ll turn fantasy into reality.
You Need Your Chase
All About Chases
Whether we’re talking about an indoor or outdoor fireplace, certain components are built into the design that are specifically there to help protect that beautiful fireplace from the damaging effects of rain, snow, sleet and any other forms of moisture that come its way.
Unsure what your chase cover does? Interested to know more about decorative options? Contact us today.
One component that sits at the top of your chimney — the chase — ends up being more or less the first line of defense against that damage. It forms a barrier that diverts water away and protects the stone, brick or other masonry materials in the process. Chases — particularly the ones we carry at IBD Outdoor Rooms — aren’t simply utilitarian though. They can add a lot of visual interest, either bringing in a pop of color with copper or bringing in a dynamic shape that complements or enhances the design of your home.
Different Materials, Different Benefits
If you had a fireplace installed with a chase that’s begun to fail, with rust streaking down its sides and pits and corrosion holes peeking through, odds are that was a galvanized chase. Galvanized metal is a really cost-conscious choice, and that’s why galvanized chase covers and chimney caps are often chosen and installed by builders. But depending on factors like weather and location, galvanized metal can wear down sometimes in just a handful of years.
At IBD Outdoor Rooms, we can show you a variety of chases in copper or stainless steel, which we find to be the most aesthetically pleasing and functionally dependable materials you’ll find.
Stainless steel is also a good value and has a beautiful clean look. As an outdoor material, it’s also highly durable, so you can expect a much longer, much less trouble-marked service life than you would with galvanized metal. We also offer powder-coated stainless steel chases for clients who want a different look — maybe a bold color, or dynamic black — with the durability of stainless steel.
Copper chases bring remarkable beauty to a home or outdoor space. And through the years, while remaining strong and durable, copper develops that gorgeous telltale colorful patina — it truly only gets better with time.
Simple Or More Dynamic Shapes
IBD Outdoor Rooms can help guide you toward the perfect chase, whether you’re looking for something visually simple or something that really draws the eye. We carry classic chase covers with and without a hole (the latter would be for vent-free units), but we also offer chases with shroud extensions that bring a bold design pop, from a Gothic look to Roman and Grecian designs. Talk to us about the design you’re envisioning, and we’ll help you find the perfect new chase!
If you’re looking to have a chase replaced or installed — or just have some questions about their function or possibilities when it comes to aesthetics — we’re always glad to help. Just give IBD Outdoor Rooms a call!
Quick Chase Overview
What Is a Quick Chase?
Got an ugly metal chimney pipe jutting out of your roofline that you’d like to give the look of a masonry chimney or that you’d like to clad in siding? Or do you have a rotted-out chase system that needs replacing, or a chimney chase that is in need of a major overall? We have a solution for you.
There are advantages for homeowners who choose a prefabricated chimney. However, the metal chimney on top of your house likely isn’t one. Meet our Quick Chase solution.
Our company serves a lot of purposes and provides many different outdoor products for our customers, but one of the things we’re most proud of at IBD Outdoor Rooms is how we’ve pioneered what we call the “quick chase.”
As manufactured chimneys and fireplaces began to increase in popularity, we recognized the need for this product, which is designed to cover up an unsightly metal chimney, also known as a “prefabricated” or “manufactured” chimney. Our custom-built quick chases give the look of a masonry or other built-in chimney, but without all the construction cost and headache associated with building, maintaining—and supporting the weight of—a real masonry chimney.
Our quick chase even has the durability of a masonry chimney; the system carries a limited lifetime warranty.
How the Quick Chase System Works
Depending on your preference and budget, you can order a quick chase made of either 22-gauge galvanized steel or 22-gauge stainless steel framing members that are then covered with half-inch concrete board.
Stainless steel chimney flashing is built into the chase and attached to the framing members, inserted behind the concrete board. Our quick chase system can either be custom configured by your installer or purchased with a two-part system that includes a pitch adaptor to work with most common roof pitches.
Following installation of the system by a qualified professional, your quick chase can be finished with veneer stone, veneer brick, stucco, siding, or any other weatherproof material that you’d like. In addition to the quick chase system, we can also ship you a high-quality chase cover designed to fit your chase and keep rain, debris, and animals out of your chimney, extending its life.
Have questions about our quick chase system? Contact us today.
