Simpson and Flex King Liner

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kruger

Member
Oct 14, 2008
100
SE Wyoming
I'm looking to install my own liner in an existing masonry chimney with ceramic tiles in good condition. I've seen Simpson DuraFlex and a brand called Flex King online, but have heard rumors of shady internet liners. Are these liners junk, middle of the road, or quality? I know Simpson voids the warranty if the liner isn't purchased from a authorized dealer and installed by a qualified sweep, while Flex King claims their warranty is valid with owner install. These liner kits are being sold for under $400 (25') and shipping is free. Too good to be true? Is there another liner I should pursue that is reasonably priced?

P.S. I've spent about two hours today searching posts and needed to ask this question directly. Thanks.
 
I have Simpson Dura Flex liners in both of my flues for the last six years with no problems. Because they were straight shots. It isn't a very flexible liner. I would advise, between the two, the Flex King. I don't think any liner warranty is worth the paper it is written on but the Flex King should be more flexible if you need that from what I have heard.

That being said on the one in the basement I got tired of trying to get a tee down the flue and did actually carefully turn the thing 90 degrees into the thimble.

All things considered, a tube made out of 316ti broil foil is a tube made out of 316ti broil foil.
 
Last year I got a Flex King from chimneylinerdepot.com for the best price around. I was a first timer but that liner took some serious abuse as I had to flatten it, smooooosh it through the flue of an old fireplace and bend it around a fair bit to suit my configuration. It stood up very well and is solidly constructed. My only comment would be that they don't flex as much as you might expect. It's not an issue with the product but just how my expectations were shaped by marketing of various companies.
 
Yeah if flexibility is an issue then the way to go is Homesaver Pro liners. The rest are pretty much the same flex wise. But that sucker will cost ya.
 
I also bought a flex liner from www.chimneylinerdepot.com. I got the 30' flex king pro double wall liner. The liner is great and they are good guys. "Chimney liner George" has a video on the site that makes the liner look very flexible, but note that he's bending it over a pretty wide arc. If you don't have much clearance between the damper throat and inlet, you are not going to get the liner to bend much. It's pretty rigid. I had to buy an additional adjustable elbow to get the liner into my insert.

Here's a tip. Before I dropped down the liner, I tied a rope to the end of it and secured it with a ton of duct tape. I dropped the rope down the chimney so as we were feeding it down, I was able to pull the liner downward from the bottom with the rope. If it's a tall chimney, and you are just trying to stuff it down from the top, you will be kinking and banging against the tile and mortar. It's a lot easier to pull it down from the bottom than to push it down from the top.

I had a friend come over and help me drop it in. Then he left and I realized that the liner was upside down. So I yanked it back up, and with the rope trick and a few trips up and down the ladder, I was able to get it back down the chimney myself. The liner took a lot of banging in the process - it is very solid.
 
Cool. I need to demo out the flue and get an idea of how tight I am talking. How concerned were you guys about 1" clearance requirements between the liner and the chimney tiles? Is insulation on the liner a must, strongly recommended, or just nice to have...?

I am routing into an existing hearth connecting to an Osburn 2400 insert (I think...still shopping).
 
The thing to be concerned about is the clearance between those tiles and the framing members in the side of your house. And most builders don't even seem to care about that. Nor does a guy that is a member here that used to hawk his liner's as zero clearance. All I can tell you, and this is no code expert's opinion, is that there is six of air and bricks between my tiles in the flue and the framing members in the side of the house so I called it good. And so did the inspector. Of course you have to understand that I had to spend thirty minutes telling the inspector what a stainless chimney liner is and what the clearances should be. And what the NFPA standards are.
 
25 foot simpson duraflex from ebay is what I ended up goin with. Nearest hearth shop wanted to charge me more than twice as much for the same liner.
 
I just completed my insert install last week. I used an innovative product from Magnaflex called InsuFlex. It couldn't have been easier. You get a fully insulated liner with an aluminum casing. The insulation is foil lined ceramic. I purchased the kit which came with everything needed to do the full install including the appliance connecter. For my 6 x 20 foot kit it was $453 shipped. Try and do a conventional insulated liner for that. It's at least $200 more and you have to install the insulation yourself. You end up with a fragile assy that can get torn up on the way down the chimney.

This stuff is about as smart as it gets.


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