Chimney tear down?

[Jaro40]

I had a post earlier about a new fireplace install...I'm also scheduling a liner in my utility chimney because the water heater has vented into it for quite some time and is decayed the unlined chimney stack.

It was suggested to me that if the mortar was in poor condition, the chimney would likely need to be rebuilt vs. just tuckpointed for the long term. The cost to rebuild it would be very high (some elaborate scaffolding would be needed to do it safely). So they gave me a quote to tear it down below the roofline and install a metal pipe w/ liner down to water heater. This is around $3,000 in costs to do the whole thing....The liner itself is probably just a $600 job.

I thought about just having the water heater vent through the wall instead to do it cheaper...but eventually that chimney is going to be a problem and will either need tuckpointing constantly, rebuilt, or torn down.

We are not heartbroken over losing a 2nd chimney. It's relatively small and not visible from the street. I do wish I could keep it, but I suppose it's not logical to pay several more thousands of dollars to rebuild it.


Has anyone regretted tearing down a chimney or felt it was the right choice?

 

[begreen]

I tore down two chimneys when we raised the house. One was to the fireplace and the other was to the propane furnace. The propane furnace chimney was in great condition, but propane is very expensive locally and raising a chimney with the house is complicated so it went. It was in a location where we never would have been able to use it for a stove. I also removed the propane furnace and put in a high efficiency heat pump system. The fireplace was original and the mortar was bad, plus the chimney had no tile liner. An earthquake showed us how poorly it was holding together. I decided to remove it and reverse the living room layout while at it. This was a good call. There were several places where wood was touching the chimney and I discovered two old take-offs. One had plaster sealing it the other had a wood cover! Never once have we regretted the changes.

 

[Osagebndr]

Owning a home is a never ending story Of fix it's ain't it