Finally doing it.......Lining the chimney ....what do I need to worry about?

[DavidV]

I measured the chimney as best I could and figure it to be approximately 28 feet. Since the difference in cost is only about 30 bucks, I'm ordering the 35 foot stainless steel liner and I'll cut off my waste. I called my stove manufacturer this morning and they told me there was no problem with reducing from the 8 inch outlet on my stove to a 6 inch liner. I just pulled my stove away and took a good look at it. the clay liner is something like 6x14 ??? that seems like a rather oddball size. I also wasn't too impressed with the job the sweep did a few weeks ago when he was here. I wtill have a substantial amount of soot on the outer sides of the liner. looks like they just ran the brush down the middle and didn't bother with the sides. Guess I can't reccomend that guy anymore.
my damper opening is 6 inches but I might have to cut off the cast iron chunk sticking out that used to hold the handle open.

So..What are the "gotchyas" that I should be aware of when installing this thing. I'm ordering a kit from one of the big name places. I'm thinking I should get some brushes and do a proper job of removing all the crap that's up there. The angle isn't too harsh to get the pipe thru the damper but I only have about 6 inches from stove top to the hearth opening...if that...so block off plate is gonna be a pain. Any suggestions?

 

[elkimmeg]

Put your stove on rollers pipes dowells so it can be rolled in and out to test the final locations. Wear eye and breathing protection if planning to cut out any of the damper. ther will be a lot of soot up there. Sounds like you sweeps used a round brush and never worked the sides. I cut 12' slits and compress one end ot the pipe and ducttape it in a cone like shape. Thats the leading edge of the liner going down the chimney. I fish a rope threw the pipe and use a weight as the washer that way you can control the decent or pull it back out. One final tool I find real helpfull is a 4" grinder with a thin metal blade. I use it to cut the damper area and also it is easier to cut the ss liner. This is the best way to make the final top cut. Wear good leather golves the metal liner can cause severe
cuts

 

[Rhone]

Make sure you know if it's 6x14 or not. If you measured the inside of the flue tile, and it's 6" it's not possible to fit a 6" liner because the mortar & slight tile offsets stick into the flue reducing the size below 6". I believe it has to be at least 7" in either direction else you may have to get an oval flex pipe like here. You want to measure the flue tile size at the top of your chimney to be certain the size since you're borderline, it's hard to measure properly from the bottom. You may want to get the ovalized pipe anyway, you won't have to cut your damper. Although I'm not a fan of oval or flex pipe because they can reduce draft your 28' chimney should have no problem.

Did you already purchased the liner?

 

[DavidV]

I havn't purchased the liner yet. Called the my stove manufacturer and double checked and I need 8 inch. So the price now jumps because the ovalized pipe is more expensive and shipping goes up and the accessory pieces seem to be more expensive. What a PITA.

 

[saichele]

I think you're going to find this becomes much more expensive. There's an oval size equvalent to 8" round that is about 14x5OD, might work. But it's pricey - $50/foot or so, and lots for shipping because it doesn;t coil well.. Plus the various fittings. This could go from 600 to 2000 fast.

I've never had to seek it out, but it might be worth looking at one of those poured liners systems. They stick an inflatable bladder down the chimney, pour some kind of lightweight concrete around it, and pull the bladders out leaving a nice clean concrete chimney. But not a DIY.

Steve