Masonry repair
Sweep & inspection
Caps & crowns
Flue relining
Gas fireplace serviceLevel 1 sweep and inspection to the NFPA 211 annual standard - flue, crown, cap, and flashing checked and photographed
Chimney sweep logs do not sweep chimneys. They loosen some creosote - which then falls where a brush and vacuum still have to collect it.
Famco Gas Fireplace Repair in West Palm Beach: What to Know First
Famco gas fireplace repair in West Palm Beach typically runs between $185 and $620 depending on what’s failed, and most jobs are completed in a single visit. We’re an independent Famco service provider, not a manufacturer warranty station, which means we diagnose what’s actually wrong before quoting anything. You’ll get a written price before we touch a single component.
This page is for West Palm Beach homeowners whose Famco fireplace won’t light, won’t stay lit, produces weak or yellow flames, or makes noises it didn’t make last winter. If your unit smells like gas, shut the valve at the fireplace and call us at (728) 203-8687 right away. If it’s a smell of smoke or burning dust on first startup of the season, that’s usually harmless burn-off, and we’ll walk you through it on the phone without sending a truck.
Key Takeaways
- We repair Famco gas fireplaces as an independent provider, with written pricing before any work starts.
- Most Famco repairs run $185 – $620 in West Palm Beach; we tell you if a repair isn’t worth the money.
- Common Famco failure points include thermopiles on vented units, pilot assembly blockages on the Mendota-built lines, and dirty burner ports on vent-free models.
- You’ll know your technician’s name and see their photo before we arrive. Every time.
- Every repair carries a written 365-day guarantee. If it fails, the second visit is free.
Styles & brands we work with
How Famco Products Fail – and How We Fix Them
Famco builds several distinct gas fireplace lines, and they don’t all fail the same way. Here’s what we see in West Palm Beach homes, series by series, and what our repair actually involves.
- Famco Mendota-style direct vent units: pilot drops out after the main burner kicks on. The thermopile on these units sits in the pilot flame and generates the millivolt signal that holds the gas valve open. After a few years of coastal humidity exposure, the thermopile’s output sags. The fireplace lights, runs for two minutes, then shuts off. We test the actual millivolt reading, replace the thermopile with a quality aftermarket equivalent when the OEM part is backordered, and the unit holds steady again. This is the single most common Famco repair we do in West Palm Beach.
- Famco vent-free compact models: uneven flame and sooting on the logs. Vent-free burners pull combustion air from the room, and in West Palm Beach that air carries dust, pet hair, and the fine salt residue that works its way into everything near the coast. The burner ports clog unevenly, so you get tall yellow flames on one side and weak blue on the other. Soot deposits on the ceramic logs follow. Our fix is a full burner and pilot teardown, ultrasonic cleaning of the burner tube, and recalibration of the air shutter. No chemical sprays. No shortcuts that leave half the ports plugged.
- Famco direct vent units with a remote control: receiver won’t talk to the transmitter. These ship with a radio-frequency receiver tucked inside the fireplace base. The receiver’s solder joints fatigue with repeated heating cycles, and one day the remote just does nothing. Before you assume the remote is dead, we bench-test both the transmitter and receiver. Usually the receiver needs replacement, and a universal Famco-compatible receiver works fine and costs less than the OEM part. Half the “dead remote” calls we get are actually dead batteries in the handset, which we’ll troubleshoot over the phone for free before we ever schedule a visit.
- Famco B-vent models: flame looks weak and lazy, especially on cold nights. B-vent fireplaces rely on natural draft, and draft depends on temperature difference between inside and outside. On cool West Palm Beach evenings the draft is weaker than the unit was designed for, and if the vent run has any restriction, erosion, or a rusted rain cap, the flame starves for oxygen. We inspect the full vent path, replace corroded B-vent sections, and verify draft with a manometer before and after. Sometimes the fix is as simple as replacing a rusted cap; sometimes the vent sections themselves have pinholes from years of humid Florida air.
- Famco gas log sets: heavy yellow flame and a gas smell while running. If the flame is yellow and lazy across the entire log set, the air shutter is either misadjusted or the burner has shifted inside the pan. If you smell gas while it runs, that’s a different issue, incomplete combustion, which needs to be corrected, not masked. We inspect the pan, reposition the burner, set the shutter correctly, and verify the flame pattern against the manufacturer’s spec. A properly adjusted Famco log set shows blue flame at the ports and yellow tips on the logs themselves. If it’s all yellow, it’s running rich and wasting gas.
Our Famco Gas Fireplace Repair Process
Every Famco job follows the same sequence. You’ll know what’s happening at each step, and you’ll never get a surprise line item at the end.
- 1
Call and describe the symptom. A live person answers, day or night. We ask what the fireplace is doing or not doing, and if it’s a gas smell, we tell you to shut the valve and we prioritize the call.
- 2
We name your technician before the visit. You’ll get the technician’s name and photo before we arrive. The same person at your door shows a photo ID badge. No exceptions.
- 3
Diagnosis, not guesswork. The technician tests the actual failure, millivolt output, gas pressure, continuity, draft, flame pattern. We don’t swap parts until we know what failed.
- 4
Written price before work begins. You see the number, the parts, and the labor. If the repair isn’t worth doing, we tell you that plainly and recommend replacement only when the numbers support it.
- 5
The repair and the test. We fix it, then run the unit through a full cycle, ignition, steady flame, shutdown. We check for gas leaks at every connection we touched.
- 6
Cleanup and the written guarantee. We leave the fireplace area cleaner than we found it, and you get the 365-day guarantee in writing. If the repair fails within a year, the second visit is free.
See the difference
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After
Before
After
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AfterWhat Famco Gas Fireplace Repair Costs in West Palm Beach
Here’s what we actually charge for common Famco repairs in West Palm Beach. These are real ranges, not bait numbers.
- Thermopile or thermocouple replacement: $185 – $285. Parts are $45 – $90, and the rest is diagnosis and labor.
- Pilot assembly clean and rebuild: $220 – $340. We disassemble, clean, and reseat the pilot, replacing the thermopile if it’s weak.
- Remote receiver replacement: $175 – $260. The receiver itself is $65 – $110 for a Famco-compatible unit, and installation takes under an hour.
- Full burner teardown and ultrasonic clean: $310 – $480. This is the fix for sooting and uneven flames. It’s labor-intensive, but it makes a 10-year-old burner run like it’s new.
- Vent inspection and section replacement: $180 – $620. Cost depends on how many B-vent sections are rusted and whether the cap needs replacement.
What moves the price: how many components actually failed, whether the parts are OEM Famco or a quality aftermarket equivalent, and the age of the unit. Older fireplaces sometimes have corrosion that turns a simple part swap into a bracket rebuild. You’ll always know the number before we start. Call (728) 203-8687 for an exact quote, estimates are free.
Why West Palm Beach Homeowners Call Alcott Chimney West Palm Beach for Famco Work
We’ve been serving West Palm Beach since 2002, and Ruben Castellano has spent decades working chimneys and fireplaces full-time. He grew up in East Los Angeles, picked up his trade foundations at Los Angeles Trade-Technical College, and has worked on the older fireboxes along Flamingo Park more times than he can count. When Ruben tells you a Famco repair can wait another season, it’s not a sales tactic. It’s the truth, and he’ll put it in writing.
The people who call us tend to care about two things: who’s walking through the door, and whether the work will hold up. On the first point, every technician passes a background check and identity verification before ever stepping on your property, this is the Threshold Standard, and you’ll see their name and photo before the truck arrives. On the second, every repair carries a written 365-day guarantee. If it fails, we come back free. We also work with the full family of professional trade brands, DuraFlex, HeatShield, Gelco, and Famco among them, so if your fireplace needs a liner issue addressed at the same time, we handle it with materials specified by chimney professionals, not box-store substitutes.
FAQs
Using an independent service provider does not automatically void a Famco warranty, and federal law protects your right to service your appliance through any competent provider. However, if the manufacturer determines a repair was done incorrectly, they can deny coverage for damage caused by that specific repair. That’s why we document every job with photos and write the repair details on the guarantee, so you have a record of exactly what was done and why. If your unit is still under manufacturer warranty, we’ll tell you whether the repair you need is the kind Famco typically covers, and we’ll help you file the claim.
Famco parts are generally available, but certain older model lines have spotty distribution, and thermopiles and receivers for discontinued units sometimes sit on backorder for weeks. We keep the most common Famco repair parts stocked in our van, and when OEM Famco parts aren’t available, we use aftermarket equivalents that match or exceed the original spec. We’ll tell you which we’re using and why, and the price reflects it. Call (728) 203-8687 and we’ll check parts availability for your specific model.
If the repair costs less than a third of the unit’s replacement cost and the fireplace is otherwise in good shape, repair it. If the firebox is rusted through, the burner assembly is crumbling, or the cost to make it safe exceeds half the price of a new unit, replacement is the honest answer. We’ll walk you through the numbers on your specific unit and tell you when a repair is throwing good money after bad. We don’t sell replacement fireplaces, so there’s no incentive for us to steer you that way unless it’s genuinely the right call.
For gas smells or a fireplace that won’t fully shut off, we prioritize the call and get a technician to you as quickly as the schedule allows, typically the same day or next morning. For non-urgent issues like weak flames or a dead remote, we’re usually in your neighborhood within a few business days. When you call, a live person answers and gives you a straight answer on timing. No callbacks, no voicemail queue.
Run it for ten minutes once a month during the off-season, which in West Palm Beach is most of the year. That burns off dust and humidity that settle in the burner and keeps the gas valve and pilot assembly from seizing. Once a year, have the unit inspected and serviced, and if you see any change in flame color, any sooting on the logs, or any smell that isn’t normal combustion, call us before running it again. If I wouldn’t put it in writing, I won’t say it to your face, and the other way around.
Need Famco Gas Fireplace Repair in West Palm Beach? Call Us.
We’re Alcott Chimney West Palm Beach, and we’ve been fixing Famco fireplaces in West Palm Beach since 2002. You’ll speak to a live person, get a written price before any work starts, and receive a written 365-day guarantee on every repair we make. Call (728) 203-8687 for a free estimate. We’ll tell you exactly what we find, what it costs, and whether it needs to be fixed now or can wait until next season.
Written by Ruben Castellano, Owner, Alcott Chimney West Palm Beach at Alcott Chimney West Palm Beach, serving West Palm Beach and nearby areas.