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December 16, 2005
Chimney Flue Liners
So I've been reading alot about scams with chimney businesses. But what should a flue liner cost (installed) for a 3- story brownstone?
Comments
I had a metal liner dropped in my three story....not including basement where the flue starts for $3000.00 2 years ago. It was the cheapest option. To replace the terracotta would have included breaking through my glorious plaster walls on all three floors. The name of the company was Brookfield.
Posted by: Anonymous at December 16, 2005 7:06 PM
I do think it's a bit of a scam, but depending on your situation you might be able to do it yourself or with a handyman. You can buy a flexible stainless steel liner on line (just google chimney liner) for about $600.
If your chimney is a straight shot down then it's not hard - I'd see if you can find a handyman to do it. If there's a lot of turns in your chimney than I'd get the pros - $3000 sounds fair.
Posted by: Anonymous at December 16, 2005 8:18 PM
carbon monoxide is not something you want to mess with if you don't know what your doing...
Posted by: OE at December 16, 2005 8:38 PM
We just had our chimney relined today for $3500. 4 floors and a HELL of a mess- be prepared. They did finish in 1 day though. They repair all the brick but not any of the interior wall surfaces and they rebuilt our crumbling chimney on the roof. We got the same price quoted from 2 companies and we ended up using A & A, Chimney and Fireplace Experts.
Posted by: Joe at December 17, 2005 9:35 PM
Have a look at this site:
http://www.chimneylinerdepot.com/landing/
Looks easy to do yourself at much less cost, providing that your flues are like mine -- a fairly straight shot up and down.
Posted by: Anonymous at December 18, 2005 11:50 AM
I bought my chimney liner at that site- chimneylinerdepot.org - good service, great price. I agree with the last poster, but if your chimney is anything but perfectly straight this is not for the average do it yourselfer.
Posted by: Anonymous at December 18, 2005 3:43 PM
I just bought a rowhouse and I would like to explore
getting the fireplaces working again. But on exploring the
fireplaces on each floor, it appears that only the
lowest one is meant to have a fire in it and the ones above merely act as vents. Apparently this is
not uncommon in 1850's but I've never heard of it.
Does anyone have any references so I can read up on it?
Thanks!
Posted by: daryl at December 18, 2005 6:39 PM
maryann: I need to take and post some photos of the
upper fireplaces. They are peculiar to say the least.
Each has a flue (leading up) and each has a vent coming
in from below. None of the upper fireplaces has a firebox,
but rather each has a cast iron "summer cover" with
a cast iron "vent" that can be opened or closed.
You are certainly right that there are 4 flues on the roof, so i believe that each fireplace
does vent to the roof, but the vents coming up
from below have me baffled.
Finally, I am nearly sure that these fireplaces never
were plumbed for gas. Rather that coal was used
(there's a coal shoot in the sub-basement that
is clearly part of the oringal house.)
Posted by: daryl at December 18, 2005 8:53 PM
Not unreasonable to conclude that some "fireplaces" were merely decorative or used, as a previous poster suggested, as big heating vents to transfer heat from below.
My brownstone was built in 1894 with hot-water radiator heat. No real need for the fireplaces. There are two chimneys with three flues each. The brick is clean and orange down the length of each flue, so it's unlikely that they ever burned wood or coal. No fireplace hearths -- the original hardwood floors (including elaborate bordered parquets) go right up to the mantles. The fireplaces have been closed up for years, but I suspect that one of more might have originally had gas inserts. (Some neighboring houses on my block of the same time period still have the inserts in place and visible gas lines.)
Posted by: Anonymous at December 19, 2005 10:55 AM
My Victorian Flatbush house, built in 1902, has 4 fireplaces that are decorative and used as heating vents only.
Posted by: Anonymous at December 19, 2005 12:02 PM
Many brownstone fireplaces were indeed simply hot air vents feed by (usually) a coal furnace in the cellar and were never used to burn fuel (be it wood, coal or gas). Because of this, any conversion to wood-burning really should be done by a professional. There are issues to consider not only with rebuilding the flues and fireboxes but also the hearth below. If the floor joists run under the hearthstone (ie. under the fireplace itself), there is the potential for those beams to ignite if the heat from the fire above is great enough. I don't have the reference any longer, but there was a very thorough article about rowhouse fireplaces written by a Boston chimney mason which describes this scary possibility. It was published in somewhere like Old House Jornal and I found it online so it's out there somewhere.
Posted by: Anon at December 19, 2005 12:17 PM
Our three story brick rowhouse in Red Hook also looks like the parlor fireplace(s) connects with a heating register on the upper floor. This register/ vent has a louver that you can use to open and shut it. I have read that coal fireplaces were built at the lowest level and then the heat went to the upper floor registers. Also the upper floor mantel is wood, which indicates that it was more likely a decorative mantle for the heat register/vent. Coal fires were started in the fall and continued till spring. Also coal fireplaces are taller and narrower than wood fireplaces. Coal burns hotter than wood, so a smaller fireplace sufficed, I suppose. I think coal was the preferred fuel in NY, London, etc.
Question: The floor of our parlor fireplace is missing? Has it fallen out or was there never one? I just opened it this month. It had been bricked up until now and the bricks were sitting on a grate, but there is no brick floor in the fireplace. Can you recommend any good fireplace and chimney restorers?
Posted by: Yeshwant at December 19, 2005 5:28 PM
Our three story brick rowhouse circa 1893 has air vents as well. Beside the boiler there is evidence of a coal chute. We have two chimneys with three chambers each. I think one was for the Kitchen stove the other for the boiler.
Posted by: Anonymous at December 29, 2005 1:54 PM
Yeshwant: Try Andre Buchanan, 718-953-2836. Others on this site have also recommended him.
Posted by: Anon at January 3, 2006 5:15 PM
Do you mean Aubrey Buchanan? He relined my flues with Terra Cotta right after we bought the place and did a great job.
Posted by: Anonymous at January 14, 2006 12:42 AM
"Question: The floor of our parlor fireplace is missing? Has it fallen out or was there never one? "
I had a similiar situation in my 1907 home with one of the fireplaces. The only heating for my home was, originally,
through use of the coal firplaces. When furnaces became popular the easiest way to get flue access to the basement was to remove the floor of a groundfloor fireplace, extending the flue opening down to the basement where the furnace could be connected. The opening of the fireplace was then bricked up to seal it.
Posted by: Stephen Voss at January 20, 2006 6:06 PM
I am looking for someone to open up a couple of fireplaces in the b'stone we recently purchased in Bed-Stuy. I called Aubry Buchanen as recommended above but was told that he has retired and the company he worked for is booked up until March. No answer from A & A.
Posted by: MT at January 31, 2006 10:48 AM
I have a 2 and 1/2 story colonial. I was told by the chimney cleaner that I needed a liner. The cost would be $1600. After much discussion, I got him down to $1180. I considered doing it myself, but the material would cost around $600 plus I am dealing with something I really am not experienced on. I am calling him tomorrow to schedule the work.
Posted by: w archibald at November 6, 2006 6:05 PM
I have a question. I have a 3 story Craftsman
style house built in 2005. I have a wood burning insert with gas starter on the main (2nd floor) level. I want to add fireplaces in the basement (1st Floor) and Top Floor. These would be directly above and below the existing fireplace insert. What would be involved in getting these installed. Can it be done without ripping out the existing fireplace. I keep hearing that the existing fireplace has to be pulled out to install the other two flues. Also, what kind of cost is associated with installation assuming I buy the inserts myself.
Posted by: Jorge at May 28, 2007 9:19 PM
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