Do I have to line my chimney?

[wallpaper79]

So far, I have got nothing but great advice from this forum, and I am sure this question will be no exception. So here it goes.

We are planning on putting an insert into an old fireplace (~80yrs) and I have a few questions. I know that there is no liner in the chimney as of yet but there seems to be a problem. You see the at one point in the history of the house, the masonary chimney reached to the outside. Then about 20 years ago a new roof was put on the house and instead of extenting the chimney with brick, they stuck a piece of prefab down into it and sealed it into the masonary chimney. Question is, do you think this will cause a problem getting a liner into the chimney, and will it be insurable.

Second question is....The distance from the top of the fireplace opening to the bottom of the mantle piece is only about 18 inches. Can you buy some sort of heat shield that goes over the bottom of the mantle.

Look forward to replies

 

[stoveguy2esw]

i would definately recommend getting a CSIA or WETT certified chimney professional in to do at least a class 2 inspection per NFPA211-14.4 before you proceed to have a liner installed or installation of any hearth product.

a faulty chimney can be the most dangerous item in your house, always err on the side of caution when dealing with a situation such as you described above.

 

[savageactor7]

I'd pull that mantle out if it were me it's still too close. As far the blocked off chimney under the roof goes there's a workaround but it'll be an added expense...so don't be too surprised.

wallpaper if you have a 40 yo chimney I'd go with the liner...in the walls the cement holding the brick could have deteriorated allowing sparks to penetrate into the walls. After a chimney sweep pointed out some deteriorating cement with our 'brick only' in our attic we had the chimney removed rebuilt from the ground up using flue brick tubes in the center. We don't have a SS liner now cause 'tptb' said we didn't need one...

...just remember fire can be a good servant but a cruel master.

 

[webbie]

You definitely need to line that chimney- and the liner can then be attached to the class A or HT chimney at the top to allow for a complete system.

 

[jtp10181]

IF the extension system was installed correctly you could leave it alone. There probably wont be a good was to attach to it, so it would be easiest to just reline the entire thing. If it is suspect then you could remove the hard pipe and line the masonry and then transition to a Class A HT system to go out the roof. You should have someone certified come look at the job as Mike suggested.