buying lining vs. installer provided

[Csmith]

If you are having the liner installed by someone else:

is it better to just buy the liner (ebay $300) or pay the installer to provide one. I guess the core question is at $300 is that wholesale or retail price, all things being equal I do not mind paying the installer the price difference between wholesale and $300, but do not want to get robbed (most stove stores are asking $500-$700 for the liner)

 

[Roospike]

If you are having the liner installed by someone else:

is it better to just buy the liner (ebay $300) or pay the installer to provide one. I guess the core question is at $300 is that wholesale or retail price, all things being equal I do not mind paying the installer the price difference between wholesale and $300, but do not want to get robbed (most stove stores are asking $500-$700 for the liner)

Many prices on Ebay are closer to wholesale , tho i cant say for sure is the item you are talking about IS a wholesale price. I dont see a probelm with buying of the internet . I'm sure some installers are going to maybe "buck" about it and say if its not theres that they cant cover any future issues that could happen with the pipe . Understandable . I bought my stove from a stove dealer but bought my pipe elsewhere and saved over $300. from the dealer price and still got a top of the line name brand . Do your research ( as you are ) and save the $$ if it work for you .

 

[BrotherBart]

If you are having the liner installed by someone else:

is it better to just buy the liner (ebay $300) or pay the installer to provide one. I guess the core question is at $300 is that wholesale or retail price, all things being equal I do not mind paying the installer the price difference between wholesale and $300, but do not want to get robbed (most stove stores are asking $500-$700 for the liner)

If having someone else install it, I would buy it from them. That way if they wreck the liner during the installation it is their baby to replace, not yours.

 

[Roospike]

If you are having the liner installed by someone else:

is it better to just buy the liner (ebay $300) or pay the installer to provide one. I guess the core question is at $300 is that wholesale or retail price, all things being equal I do not mind paying the installer the price difference between wholesale and $300, but do not want to get robbed (most stove stores are asking $500-$700 for the liner)

If having someone else install it, I would buy it from them. That way if they wreck the liner during the installation it is their baby to replace, not yours.

I would think if the installers "wreck the liner during the installation" or wrecked anything for that matter it would be there baby .

 

[BrotherBart]

"I would think if the installers “wreck the liner during the installation” or wrecked anything for that matter it would be there baby ."

Good luck getting them to eat the replacement cost. You paid them for the labor. That is all you are going to get back from them.

 

[saichele]

And many installers build the profit onthe liner into the cost. At $300, I think that has to be lcoser to wholesale.

Steve

 

[Mike Wilson]

Liner installers will rob you, period. They will charge you 600 dollars for a 300 dollar liner, because after all, they have to make a profit... and then they'll charge you 300-400 for their labor to install that liner... because after all, they have to make a profit.

If there is any way you and a friend can do it yourselves, do it. Its not difficult at all.

-- Mike

 

[saichele]

Liner installers will rob you, period. They will charge you 600 dollars for a 300 dollar liner, because after all, they have to make a profit... and then they'll charge you 300-400 for their labor to install that liner... because after all, they have to make a profit.

If there is any way you and a friend can do it yourselves, so it. Its not difficult at all.

-- Mike

Thanks for saying it.

Got quotes from a couple different installers, one (labor only) for $800, a full-package for $2000 from another.

Bought better liner (thanks to the advice from those here) for about $600, and a friend and I installed it in about an hour. So the cost was $600, 1 large pizza, and a 6 pack.

 

[Roospike]

"I would think if the installers “wreck the liner during the installation” or wrecked anything for that matter it would be there baby ."

Good luck getting them to eat the replacement cost. You paid them for the labor. That is all you are going to get back from them.

This does not let them get away with wrecking any of your own personal property . This is why they have to be insured. Have a tree company come to your house to take out a tree , the tree falls on the house ................ You think the tree company can just walk away ? Nope . Now it might be a different story of insurance of one goes cheap and pays a couple of hicks off the street to do service for you , but there again that does not mean that they are not liable for there work .

 

[Mike Wilson]

Thanks for saying it.

Got quotes from a couple different installers, one (labor only) for $800, a full-package for $2000 from another.

Bought better liner (thanks to the advice from those here) for about $600, and a friend and I installed it in about an hour. So the cost was $600, 1 large pizza, and a 6 pack.

Thanks. Oh, and Smitty, here's another thread related to this topic... we tend to hash this exact same topic out every 4-6 months here on HearthNet.

Liner Thread

-- Mike

 

[Roospike]

I dont go through lift getting suckered . Maybe a few here does and dont mind . If i had work done for me and something got damaged per the workers, your darn stright it would be taken care of . Some of you are telling me that if someone you hired to do work did damage to your home or something you own .....you would just pay the bill and cry ? No way . Some can get walked on and let it go and others take care of the issues .

 

[BrotherBart]

Nah Roo. What I am telling you is that any competent installer wouldn't take the job if they weren't selling you the liner. Screw ups are factored into the job material cost. Not a total screw up on every job but an average over all jobs. Anybody that would take on the risk of messing up a liner job for a hundred buck install fee should scare the crap out of ya.

 

[Roospike]

Nah Roo. What I am telling you is that any competent installer wouldn't take the job if they weren't selling you the liner. Screw ups are factored into the job material cost. Not a total screw up on every job but an average over all jobs. Anybody that would take on the risk of messing up a liner job for a hundred buck install fee should scare the crap out of ya.

I guess my thoughts are comming from say the shop you bought the stove from and you had the liner and had them install your full unit . I guess i would never be in this stand because i did my own install after i did all the the needed research . I have had too many dealers / fix it shops ect try to take advantage of me so the trust factor just isnt there with me and dealers & fix it shops . I do all my own work when i can . I'm not doctor and such so i guess i cant do it all . Ha .

 

[Roospike]

roo- "Some of you are telling me that if someone you hired to do work did damage to your home or something you own .....you would just pay the bill and cry ?"

No.

I'm telling you that if YOU bought the liner for 300 bucks and the installer screwed it up, you have to go after him to get reimbursed.


And BB is right again - if I was an installer and someone called with all the materials on hand, I'd say, "no thanks", unless I had no other business.

There are an unnumber amount of car repair shops that dont make or sell cars that do repairs , if there thinking was like yours they would all be out of business . If i had the items and the installer did what the work because i already had the pipe ....... too bad for them . If thats how they want to run there business then so be it . Call the next guy , NO PROBLEM. Not all businesses think like you , if they did then they would end up being out of business. ( at least my business )

 

[Choppedliver]

To answer Smitty's Question "not all chimney liners are built the same"
We buy Basic (cheap-o) liners for about $175.00 and retail them for $325.00 and I to have sold some of these on ebay in the past when we were over-stocked heading in to summer. They are cheap in every way, they don't fit together very well and they have sharp unfinished edges. Also, the ones I currently see on Ebay do not have stove adapters you have to add one to conect it to your insert. Then there are "Higher end liners" on the market like what you can see on http://www.homesaver.com/, www.duravent.com and others, there liners cost us well over $350.00 and retail for about $500.00-700.00 for a 6"x25"ss liner. They are stonger and typically thicker then the cheap-o liner and always seam to have a better fit & finish
Want I'm tring to say is you'll most likely get what you pay for.


side note, the guy on ebay selling liners for $300.00 or whatever is not selling products at cost out of the goodness of his heart. my money says he's selling you the cheap-o liner. Also, did you notice there are no brand names on the liners on E-bay? I would stick to name brands like Z-flex, Homesaver, Simpson duravent, Metal fab

 

[MountainStoveGuy]

Roo, in this industry, no installer i know will install materials that are already on the site. #1 they arent going to be responsible for warrenty calls,# 2 they typically can be picky, my installers are usually months out. #3 they want to make a buck too, and since there buying wholesale, there retail and your aftermarket retail will be close, but not close compared to internet pricing, internet pricing is not retail, its a sale that typically holds no warrenty, no person to talk when its messed up, and typically they dont give a damn if you have a problem. Any one can save money by buying online, but anyone cant climb on a roof, scale a chimney, hump a heavy liner down a chimney, make shure the liner is properly isulated and wraped with armor mesh, hump the insert in the hole, squeeze there hands in there and make the connection, and sleep safe knowing that there install will not burn there house down. There are many levels of DIY's, liner installs arent one of the easiest.

 

[saichele]

Reading the last two reminded me, if you do think about DIY, the Ventinox is a lot easier to work with. The first house I installed a combination of rigid stainless and Homesaver 304 flex, and it was fairly painful because the flex weighed a ton. Latest house I installed the Ventinox 316ti and it went a lot better - lighter, easier to handle, and allegedly more resistant to the nasties in the chimney.

Steve