A relative has a wood burning fireplace insert. This year when having their chimney cleaned, they found cracks in the flue tile, creosote, and missing mortar. They quoted $6000 to repair. Neither of us have experience with the company. I recommended they get a second opinion, and the second opinion person came over and said the chimney is fine (but they didn't use a camera). I'm inclined to trust the person with the camera over the second! But I'm also wondering if there's a cheaper or better way, for example using a stainless steel liner. Any advice?
Here are the pics they provided:
Here are the pics they provided: