I will be purchasing my first-ever insert soon. Being a newb, I don't want to tackle the install myself. A friend recommended an installer, whom I "interviewed" yesterday.
I asked him if he would be insulating with Roxul and putting in a blockoff plate. He said he just uses fiberglass for insulation around the damper and that an insulated liner is not needed. He also said that installing a blockoff plate would be difficult because the damper tubes need to be cut out?
Just wondering if I should be concerned with these responses.
Thanks!
Trooper- Installing an insert is a long-term job. With any luck, you'll get a lifetime of use out of it. So being a job that you're hoping to only do once, it needs to be done right. You're the customer, and you need to be happy with the end result. If contractor #1 isn't willing to do it "right", he needs to know that there are dozens of others that you will be talking to, most of whom will be happy to provide you with the products and services that you desire.
Unless there is a valid reason for not using an insulated liner (i.e. cleanances inside your chimney, it's on an inside wall, etc.), then this might be a legitimate answer. Even if on an interior wall, it's still not a bad idea to go with an insulated liner anyways. It cannot hurt, and will only help to ensure that your liner remains warm enough to minimize creosote buildup, which lowers your chances of a potential chimney fire. For a few hundred bucks extra, why not give yourself the extra piece of mind?
Regarding a blockoff plate, your contractor's answer scares me... almost as if he has never seen one before. The blockoff plate is simple to create using plain sheetmetal and tin snips, and I have no idea what he is referring to regarding interference with your "damper tubes". A hole is cut in the middle of the blockoff plate for your liner to pass through. You want the radiant heat from your insert to stay in your house and not escape through the chimney. The blockoff plate will help to ensure that the majority of radiant heat stays in your house. In my mind, this is a fundamental requirement of any insert installation.
As for using fiberglass insulation vs Roxul, this is a no-brainer. In the unfortunate event that you do have a chimney fire, the Roxul holds up to ~2,100 degrees and will most likely not ignite. That wouldn't be the case for the fiberglass stuff, which at that point, only worsens your situation. Why not use the product that is best suited for the application? The cost difference is minimal ($40 will get you more than enough Roxul to do the job). Roxul is the perfect choice for this application. I would not use fiberglass.
So how did the interview go? In my mind, I think he gets a D-. I would be contacting other options if I were you.