Liner Install

Good friend of mine has had problems with his chimney. 200+ year old house. He burns less than 2 cord in his Jotul wood stove. He ended up having a chimney fire Thanksgiving weekend. He called a few companies to do a liner and nearly a two month wait just for a quote! I helped install a liner years back and one of the companies i buy from sells the liner kits wholesale so i suggested that. Helped him Sunday hook it up. Got it down about ten feet and hit something. After several tries it wouldnt go. TIGHT fit. We ended up busting a hole above the attic floor and found the obstruction...two bricks that were holding the flue liner up from a past partial rebuild. Slid down "easily" after we cleared it.


Few cuts and connections and he was good to go. Fired it up. 18 month old Norway maple in the stove!

 

Nice! What kind of liner did you use? 1 ply or 2 ply? insulated? Did you put an insulation blanket around?
I'm curious because I think I will be putting one in next year.

 

Good on you for getting him back in business. Look like a nice old home.

 

Nice work there Brad helping out and glad you found that obstruction and more importantly clear it! That could really thrown a monkey wrench into a project like that

 

Single walled stainless. No blanket. The 6" was a tight fit. I think if its an exterior chimney it needs insulation, but dont quote me on that.

How old is the chimney Sinngetreu ?

 

I believe it was built with the house in 1941. Its a standard 4 square farm house with the chimney in the center. Terra cotta lined.

 

may not need one if the TC is in good condition. Is there a metal cap or stone cover?

 

No cap. I've always thought it was in really good shape. I have been watching it closely with this new stove and its doing great.

 

I took BRUTE force to get it in and out thats how tight it was! The problematic bricks were only sticking an inch or so into the flue but enough to cause the problem.

 

If you get on the roof, check the condition of the clay and see where its mortared to the next piece down the chimney. IME the flues come in 2' sections. Mortar should be sound and visible. A stainless cap is never a bad idea.

 

I have looked a couple years ago and thought it looked good. I will do that again at some point now that I know a little more.
The biggest concern I have right now is that its a bit oversized for the stove according to the manual. The liner is a rectangular liner that I think is a 10 by 8.

 

So you mortared those back in after?

Exterior may need it more for keeping the flue warm...but interior or exterior, they all need it if the chimney was not built with proper CTC...and many/most weren't.

Don't waste your money on 2 ply...more money for an inferior product...if you want HD, buy HD singlewall!

 

I asked him if he wanted/needed a couple bricks as i might have some hanging around. He didnt seem that concerned and i didnt push the issue. He is the type that does what he wants and i dont push him. Even the way he started the fire...leaves the stove door open and it smoked into the room. Made no sense to me.

 

Bare liner...holes in the masonry now...skeery stuff!

 

I agree, but he had this lax attitude when i offered up the bricks and a partial bag of mortar. There was plenty of room to work in the attic too. Idve had it done right away.

 

........

 

Um.....

 

Reading all this brings up something I’ve been wondering about.
What is the life expectancy of a stainless steel flex liner like that? Mine has a insulation blanket on it?

 

It seems to depend a lot on circumstances...in the perfect situation they can last a very long time...but from what I hear, 20 years is probably a good average.
Depends on quality of liner bought, how carefully is was installed (scraped/dented up being pulled into a tight flue) and if it is exposed to extreme high temps...also, if damaged while cleaning.
A heavy duty (0.010" is considered HD) liner is considered by most to be "the best"...surprisingly standard 0.005" wall liners are not generally considered "junk"...that moniker is reserved for 2 ply liners (which unfortunately I have one) these have 2 layers woven together and they tend to delaminate...often times damaged by being rolled up for shipping too...very difficult to impossible to fix too...the worst part is the damaged areas can hold creosote...and even leak it to the outside, where it then becomes a major fire hazard.

 

Dont know the guage of the one we installed, but it was a tight fit and took brute force to slide it up and down. The chimney was four feet tall. It held up well through this with maybe a few dings. I was cringing and waiting for it to come apart as i raised it up. We rolled it out to straighten on the ground and i carried it like that up the ladder. Glad he didnt have a steep roof.