HELP!!! Problem installing chimney liner

[alfrehner]

I need some serious help and I am praying that someone out there has been here before and can give me the instruction to get out of this mess. I am an avid DIY and so when it came time to install my chimney liner I was ready, or so I thought. I had done one two years ago with ease so I had no idea this would turn into a disaster. I started putting my 6"x30' liner down the chimney and I got to the last 6 feet and it is stuck!! Won't go back up and won't go down. I have tried pushing, pulling, twisting, praying, cursing, and I am out of ideas. The chimney does have a curve in it and I am guessing this is where I am hung up. I looked up from the bottom and I am past the curve but I am guessing it is still getting hung up. There may also be a piece of chimney liner that has broken off and wedged in. Oh the chimney flue is 7"x11" and does not give much space on the sides. Any ideas, suggestions, or proffesional advice will be greatly appreciated. I look forward to your help. Thanks!

 

[alfrehner]

Thanks for the reply. Yeah I have tried poking it with a piece of rebar. I would probably be better off if I could get a better handle on it on the roof, but this is an A-frame house so I don't have much room to play with on the roof, and all the lifting is done above my shoulders. I definitly need all the prayers I can get, thanks

 

[Woodland Country]

Try dropping a stout rope down the liner and see if you can get at the other end. If you can, tie a piece of 2x4 or something to the bottom of the rope. The thought is that you can tug on the rope and the 2x4 will act as a stop at the bottom rim of the liner and you can try and pull the whole thing out from the top. If the top is over your shoulders, use a board braced against the brick that is higher than the top, and use it as a "pulley".

 

[avlism]

We had this problem too. We had drilled a couple of holes near the bottom of the liner and threaded some rope through to pull at the bottom. We got stuck and started pulling pretty hard on the ropes at the bottom and the liner started to unravel :O . We had about 10 extra feet of liner, so we went ahead and unraveled a few more feet of it from the bottom and this loosened it where we were stuck and we were able to pull it out up top. Then we "ovalized" the whole pipe and made a cone at one end of the liner. We duck taped it like crazy at the cone, drilled 2 holes and threaded 2 pieces of rope on the opposite sides of oval "cone"...it dropped down with no problems. Hope this helps.

 

[alfrehner]

That sounds like a good idea, but my problem is I don't have any extra feet to unravel. So I am still stuck trying to get it out. It has gotten darn cold here today so I didn't work on it anymore. When it warms up in a couple of days I will get back up there and try the rope and board trick. IF I get it out I will be sure to ovalize it so it will go down.
I talked to a chimney sweep today, and they suggested that I just cut it off where it is as long as the clay tiles are still good up to where the liner is. That didn't sound very good to me, seems like that would screw your draft up, not to mention how would I ever get the space around the liner sealed up so smoke didn't seep all around it? Some lessons are learned the extra hard way.

 

[bren582]

I had the same or at least what sounds like the same problem when I did mine. I to have a curve or bend at the bottom before it comes through the damper area. The liner got hung up on the 2 flue tile from the bottom just before the smoke chamber. Possibly on some cement sticking out on one of the seems.

After about 2 hours of twisting and pulling and pushing I grabbed a broom handle and jammed it up the smoke chamber until is stuck about 2 feet int the liner. I pushed and pulled hard on the handle and that freed up the edge of the liner just enough to allow it to slide down below the last flue tile and it was home free from there.. I was surprised how it got stuck that way and realized the flexible liner is not a flexible as I thought. Not sure if your issue is the same but it's worth a shot..

here's a pic before the liner went in..