I had a pellet boiler installed in my home in 2014. I had to have a 6 inch stainless steel liner dropped into one of the flues in my chimney. I hired a company to do it and the guy went up with a ladder to do it but got the liner stuck. He came back with a lift to finish the job. I had him clean the liner the year after. I didn't have anyone else touch it until I had another company come to sweep it yesterday. This company took pics and said the original guy did not secure the liner to the top and the liner was a good 8 feet down in the flue. He said there is a metal band at the top that the liner secures to and if it had been secured properly when installed and fallen off at some point that band would have been bent. This company also said the original guy mangled my cap and left space so that water is leaking in. He took pics of everything and showed me. The original guy said he doesn't do work like that and wants to take a look. What do you guys make of this. Would a properly installed liner fall off in 5 years?
I would let the original guy come back and look...No expert, but I would say that it should not fall off!
The original guy wants to but I got the sense while he was doing it that he was an idiot and the only reason I had him sweep it the second year was that he was cheaper. Also aside from the liner falling off he damaged the cap. not sure how I feel about him coming back out because I expect he will say it wasn't his fault or try to fix it himself and I don't want him touching anything.
Good Point, I guess I would feel the same way but also would like to hear his explanation. My guess is he wouldn't show up if you scheduled him.
Dana B, that liner shouldn't fall down period! If attached properly it'll take nearly any abuse it sees. Depending on your chimney, add an example I'll say a 7x7 flue tile, would need to be broken out to fit a 6" insulated liner. For pellet, perhaps it's not insulated, would fit, but it would be tough to put down the chimney if the was any offsets or lumpy mortar joints. Once the liner is in place it's typically attached to a tee with a snout which protrudes from your thimble area which your pellet vent attaches to. At the top, the installer should've used an 8x8 top plate, which the liner attaches to as well as the cap. Your installer should come out and fix the problem at his cost. There is no reason for the liner to fall down into the chimney. Left in picture, the tee, tee cap, & snout. The bottom right is the top plate & cap.
