Help!

[micaaronfl]

Hi all,

Ok i have a merrimack insert which was installed about two years ago. Recently i had a chimney sweep out and he asked me if the liner going up the chimney was insulated. I told him no i dont think they insulated the liner. He said that its required to have the liner insulated. The sweep also stated that the company that installed it always installs incorrectly and another customer of theirs is in a law suit over not having insulation around the liner.

I called the company that installed it and they explained that the rule went into effect 2 years ago after i purchased the insert. the rep from the company also stated their is no concern because i have a good stack and even if they wanted to put insulation around it would be nearly impossible because the stack isnt wide enough.

So where i stand now is the sweep wants me to take the company to small claims court and of course the sweeps company will insulate the chimney for me.

what do you guys think? is their danger to not having the liner insulated? will the liner deteriorate faster? will insulation give more heat inside the home?

I am not sure if the sweep is trying to make a few bucks on this

i do have a metal block off plate/

 

[begreen]

This seems pretty pushy on the part of the sweep, but it's hard to say without knowing the real condition of the flue before the liner was installed. If this is an interior flue with a masonry liner that was in excellent condition (and cleaned) before the ss liner was installed, then I think I would leave it as is. If an old flue, with some debatable flaws then maybe it should be insulated. You will have to decide this. Duraliner is designed for this type of tight install if you need to insulate.

How much creosote are they getting in an average sweep?

 

[micaaronfl]

thanks for the response, the house is 22 years old and the stack seems to be in good condition, the fireplace was never used in 22 years, when i brought the house there was no insert and there wasnt even any burn marks. anyway when they did the sweep they didnt get much creosite. i burn about 2 cords a year.

 

[begreen]

How much creosote are you getting per year after burning 2 cords?

 

[raybonz]

Who needs a sleazy lawyer when you have a sweep like that? LOL Unreal how low some people can go..

Ray

 

[Oldhippie]

I agree with Ray.

 

[micaaronfl]

Well here is the story on this, so earlier in the fall i had a chimney sweep out and a few days after i noticed he broke the baffle in half. of course he didnt tell me he did it nor does he return my phone calls. So a few days ago i saw a sweep at my neighbors house so i flagged him down to just get his card. thats when he started talking about the insulation.

long story short the first ever sweep i had at my house the year before said there was very little creosite.

 

[micaaronfl]

so basically i am not sure if this sweep is trying to just make money out of this or if i have a real problem on my hands?

 

[raybonz]

so basically i am not sure if this sweep is trying to just make money out of this or if i have a real problem on my hands?

He sounds like he is drumming up business especially if your not getting creosote.. I would not bother if things are working properly.. When I had my liner installed I decided I wanted it insulated because I wanted the liner knocked out due to cracks that leaked creosote through the tile plus I thought it couldn't hurt. My chimney is an inside chimney in case you're wondering..

Ray

 

[begreen]

Sounds like an attempt at distraction. Don't look at the damage I did, look at this imaginary problem over here. I'd get a new sweep.