Insulated chimney liner install

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Cjw1974

New Member
Dec 15, 2020
28
Illinois
Hi all, I hope this isn’t too much of a repetitive thread but I need some advice. I have a very old house with an old brick chimney that runs from the unfinished concrete floor cellar style basement to 5 feet above the roof. It’s a two story house and the chimney length is a little more than 30 feet. I am wanting to install a wood furnace in the basement to feed into the existing hvac plenum to supplement my gas heat. Anyway, I have already decided on the furnace so the exhaust was the next step. I need a 6” insulated liner. There are two chimney sweeps by me that I called. One said it would be in the neighborhood of $3,000-4,000 to install a liner. The other didn’t call me back. There’s two fireplace stores around here, one quoted me $2,000 for a liner to just purchase. The other quoted me $800 for a liner to just purchase. That’s an extreme price difference and I’m a bit unsure what to go with. I’m more than capable of installing a liner myself, this chimney has plenty of space so it won’t be a tough install. I’m sure like anything there is a quality difference between liners. So I’m open to suggestions and opinions. Thank you!
 
I’d find the brand of liner that they’re installing. There is a range of qualities out there. Also find out if they are insulating it and plan to break out the old terra cotta. (An insulated 6” liner will not fit down 8” terra cotta.). One other thing to consider is the weight of a 30’ liner and insulation. They aren’t light!
 
I’d find the brand of liner that they’re installing. There is a range of qualities out there. Also find out if they are insulating it and plan to break out the old terra cotta. (An insulated 6” liner will not fit down 8” terra cotta.). One other thing to consider is the weight of a 30’ liner and insulation. They aren’t light!
There is no terracotta. It’s bare brick. I’m interested in installing one myself so I can save some money but I want something high quality. Do you have any recommendations?
 
@bholler is a chimney sweep. I’ll tag him. He can give you more info on brands than I can.

You’ll want to clean the chimney pretty well too if you don’t have a liner in there.
 
It's not so much about brand and more about type of liner. Standard light weight coregated liners are ok but very thin and won't last as long as other options. 2 ply smooth wall liners are junk and should be avoided. That leaves midweight and heavy wall liners. We use midweight most of the time for modern stoves and heavy weight for old ones. There is also rigid liners which I typically don't like to install.
 
It's not so much about brand and more about type of liner. Standard light weight coregated liners are ok but very thin and won't last as long as other options. 2 ply smooth wall liners are junk and should be avoided. That leaves midweight and heavy wall liners. We use midweight most of the time for modern stoves and heavy weight for old ones. There is also rigid liners which I typically don't like to install.
I see. So I should ask if the liners I have been quoted are midweight or heavy wall? Seems a bit arbitrary and different companies may use different definitions of the words I would think.
 
I see. So I should ask if the liners I have been quoted are midweight or heavy wall? Seems a bit arbitrary and different companies may use different definitions of the words I would think.
No those are industry standards and refer to type of construction in addition to thickness of metal
 
So the liner that the supply company quoted me was 316SS .006 thickness for about $850.
That is light wall liner and a pretty cheap one
 
Midweight is . 010 heavy is . 014 or . 015
 
Ah okay thats very helpful. Only looking to do this once so lightweight probably isn't the way to go. Is there a reason I shouldn't install one myself? Everything looks very straightforward
Many times it is straightforward. Are you really comfortable with heights?
 
I have a stove in an old unlined chimney and used a standard stainless pipe and filled the void with vermiculite, pay the extra for the smooth wall pipe.
 
I have a stove in an old unlined chimney and used a standard stainless pipe and filled the void with vermiculite, pay the extra for the smooth wall pipe.
It was my understanding that smooth wall is sub par in comparison to the one piece flex stuff. Do you mean rigid? I read somewhere about using rigid pipe filled around with insulation
 
It was my understanding that smooth wall is sub par in comparison to the one piece flex stuff. Do you mean rigid? I read somewhere about using rigid pipe filled around with insulation
Midweight and heavy wall are smooth wall because of the way they are constructed so is rigid. The light wall 2 ply smooth wall is the stuff that is problematic. It is just not very durable.


Pour in insulation actually needs more room than wrap insulation. Wrap only needs to be 1/2" thick but pour in needs 1" on all sides
 
Midweight and heavy wall are smooth wall because of the way they are constructed so is rigid. The light wall 2 ply smooth wall is the stuff that is problematic. It is just not very durable.


Pour in insulation actually needs more room than wrap insulation. Wrap only needs to be 1/2" thick but pour in needs 1" on all sides
Ah okay, thank you for that info! So I did some looking around online for a midweight or heavyweight liner and I found this: https://www.woodlanddirect.com/meta...=52817_37=1538-52818_126=58060-52913_43=1819-

For a 35' length, 6" round diameter, and insulation the cost is $2927. I am not sure if that is reasonable or not for a heavyweight liner and insulation wrap like this?
 

This is midweight liner. I am actually having trouble finding midweight or heavy flex on the consumer chimney sites
 
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This is midweight liner. I am actually having trouble finding midweight or heavy flex on the consumer chimney sites
That is the issue I am running into. I called several companies that came up with liners on their websites but they only sell to fireplace installers and such, not to the public.
 
Yes, many commercial liner companies do not sell retail. Did you try this one?
 
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Yes, many commercial liner companies to do not sell retail. Did you try this one?
I sure did. They immediately said they don't sell to individuals, only chimney companies.