Chimney Liner Advise
I am thinking about fixing some of the fireplaces of a brownstone. I have read many opinions but I couldn’t find an answer to some of my questions: – Anybody has purchased the stainless steel liner and installed it with the help of a good mason instead of going to a ‘chimney contractor’? – What…
I am thinking about fixing some of the fireplaces of a brownstone. I have read many opinions but I couldn’t find an answer to some of my questions:
– Anybody has purchased the stainless steel liner and installed it with the help of a good mason instead of going to a ‘chimney contractor’?
– What kind of damper do you recommend?
– Where did you purchase the firebricks and the refractory cement?
– Any recommendation about the best stainless steel liner company?
– Apparently the ‘chimney contractors’ recommend the round stainless steel liner but the companies that sell liners are recommending the square chimney liners to reline a brownstone chimney because originally were square and they say that you shouldn’t make it much smaller… Anyway, the more you investigate the more you know the amount of choices that contractors don’t even tell you about.
– Any additional recommendation?
– The last question: Anybody has ever asked a permit to the DOB to fix a fireplace or to reline a chimney?
I would recommend anyone to call “Dynasty Chimney” (718-338-4741) If you want reasonable, fair rates, and Beautiful work call!! Here, this company Built me 2 beautiful Fireplaces and relined my Chimney flue for my Boiler, for a fair rate and finished before the week was through. Ask for Paul or Chris.
The fan really helps with the draw….especially if you have a shallow firebox. When you drop the lining in, mortar should be placed around it to “seal” it. once that is done you souldn’t have any issues with it not working properly.
We also hired Andre from A&A and were pleased with the work he did. Infact we had to call him back to fix a mistake but he did come back — more than once. Unfortunately it involved re-opening the chimney to plug a hole in the smoke chamber but he did fix it. I mention this because while in an ideal world it would have been done right the first time, it’s reassuring to know that he won’t disappear on you if there is a problem.
I also strongly recommend that you do careful research before restoring your fireplaces to woodburning. There are a lot of safety issues to factor in and — surprisingly — many brownstone fireplaces weren’t build for the very hot temperatures created by woodburning. Some only burned coal. Other were used as hot air vents and their appearance was otherwise purely decorative. Professional advice is probably the wisest choice.
Thanks, yaakovdoe. I know there are plenty of companies that advertise and I am sure they are great, but this time I would like to know any opinions from any homeowner who didn’t hire any company and decided to do it by himself or herself and maybe with the help of a good mason. I am sure there must be somebody who didn’t have enough money and decided to take the risk. I would really appreciate any advise. By the way, moreteasir, the Exhausto fan could be a good choice if it doesn’t really work properly after the relining. Thanks!
I suggest that you call A&A Chimney (the blue ad on the right of this page). I’m a satisfied customer.
You’ll get honest answers from an experienced chimney expect who does good work at a reasonable price.
An honest man in what has notoriously been a crooked business.
I ordered my liner from Rockford Chimney Supply and put an Exhausto chimney fan on my roof….no damper or bricks needed.
Actually, the preferred method of relining a chimeny is to run a rubber bladder all the way through the length of the chimney, inflate it with air and then pump a very light weight conrete throughout the old chimeny. The bladder is then deflated and removed. It’s overkill for a furnace chimney though.
Having had only one chimney relined with stainless steel (for my furnace, rather than a fireplace) I’m far from an expert, but FWIW I’d think that it would be far more difficult to snake a square liner through a chimney than a round one. I had a round liner installed without having any interior walls opened up; would this be likely with a square liner? If not, maybe that’s why chimney specialists use round liners.
I don’t THINK a permit is needed to reline a chimney; perhaps not for repairing an existing fireplace either. I’d HOPE one is needed for a bigger job, like converting a gas fireplace to a wood-burning one, where the consequences of a badly done job could be rather dire,