Furnace Repair Across Parma's 1950s Neighborhoods
Parma grew from 28,897 people in 1950 to 82,845 in 1960, and by 1956 it was the fastest growing city in the country (Parma's postwar building boom). Most of the houses on its side streets went up in that run. The Census puts the median year built for Parma homes at 1958, and gas heats about 87 percent of them (Census housing data for Parma).
A house from 1958 is on its third or fourth furnace by now. The ducts, the return air grilles and often the chimney are still the originals. A newer furnace pushed through ductwork sized for a 1950s unit can run hot, trip its high limit switch and shut down on a cold night. Central air added later shares that same blower and those same ducts, so a weak blower motor shows up as a heating problem in January and a cooling problem in July.
North Parma and South Parma Houses
The age of the houses changes as you drive south on Ridge Road or State Road. The Census tracts in the north end, toward Brookpark Road and the Cleveland line, are mostly pre-1960 houses, with a share built in 1939 or earlier. The south end, toward Pleasant Valley Road and Sprague Road, adds many houses from the 1960s and 1970s (south Parma housing data).
That split matters for repairs. Up north you find more chimney-vented furnaces, older gas valves and pilot assemblies, and small duct trunks in tight basements. Down south there are more 1970s and 1980s furnaces near the end of their life, plus 90 percent furnaces with white PVC pipes run out a side wall.
Repairs Common in Parma Homes
- Cracked hot surface igniters and dirty flame sensors on the first long cold stretch
- Inducer motors and pressure switches on 90 percent furnaces
- Blower motors and capacitors shared by the furnace and the central air
- PVC intake and exhaust pipes blocked by drifting snow
- Thermocouples and pilot assemblies on older standing pilot furnaces
- Condenser fan motors, contactors and frozen indoor coils in July and August
Parma Landmarks and Roads
Service covers all of Parma: the Ukrainian Village on State Road between Tuxedo Avenue and Grantwood Drive, the Polish Village on Ridge Road between Pearl Road and Thornton Avenue, the streets around the old Parmatown Mall site at Ridge Road and West Ridgewood Drive, and the neighborhoods along West Creek Reservation in Parma. Main roads include Ridge Road, State Road, Pearl Road, Broadview Road, Snow Road and West Pleasant Valley Road, with Brookpark Road on the north line and Sprague Road on the south.
Heating and Cooling Services for Parma
Each service has its own page with the parts, symptoms and questions that come up most:
- Furnace repair in Parma
- Heating repair in Parma
- HVAC repair in Parma
- AC repair in Parma
- emergency furnace repair in Parma
Neighboring areas with their own pages include Parma Heights to the west, Seven Hills to the east and Old Brooklyn across Brookpark Road.