Hogwildz,
Thanks for the insight on "...that crap"... sounds like you have some direct knowledge of it.
Crap is merely my opinion. I have heard it works, problem is, if the liner ever needs to be replaced, fagettaboutit.
Its now encased in the cured insulation & original liner/chimney. And I cannot see doing much after that except to demolish the chimney with liner and rebuild. I suppose you might be able to sneak a 5.5 liner down the 6" if need be. Just too much BS for me.
I myself ran insulated double wall rigid from the top to the first flue tile at the bottom, then 5' of flex through the smoke chelf & damper area and to the insert outlet. The rigid is pre-inslated in between the inner & out shells. Top plate up top, block off plate at the bottom just below the old damper area. I have no smell problems.
And if I need to remove/replace the liner at any point, I just disconnect at the insert, and pull her up. Not as easy it sounds due to the weight, but still very doable.
Can you give me a supplier name?
http://www.chimneylinerdepot.com/
http://hartshearth.com/
(broken link removed)
I bought my set-up from Ventingpipe.com
All 3 are decent dealers. At the time, ventingpipe was the most economical.
I will talk with the Q-dealer who gave me a quote. I in fact had put this whole subject off for about 10 years as I didn't want to "destroy" the existing hand built brick chimney/wall (it has three flues, LR, MBR and Basement). But, the problem, related to the use of a old fashioned insert without an airtight chimney (that was never a problem getting it to draw) finally resulted in an objectionable old smoke smell, and it seems the type of insulation recommended to me will really seal the existing flue off. I did have a Lock-tight damper installed on the subject chimney, but that didn't solve the smell problem, and while I'm sure it did stop dynamic sir flow, it does place the chimney "inside" the house whereas the tradition damper at the top of the fire chamber, just below the smoke shelf, puts the chimney outside the house. Of course the metal damper was not very well fitting.
I have been using the fireplace, only twice last year, as an open fireplace with glass doors. The glass doors don't seem to help either. I may have missed a chance to try some of the "snake oil" that some recommend to clean out old creosote, the stuff you spray on the wood before burning, and I guess spray on the firebox and chimney where you can before starting a fire. That may have helped, but I didn't do it. p.s. I also washed out the entire lower fire chamber to no real help, may have helped a bit, but did solve the problem for my wife's sensitive nose...doesn't bother me a lot.
Don't waste your time with the BS creosote cleaners. If they do anything at all, I would imagine it should be used from day one when the chimney is new and used on a regular basis to have any real benefit, if any.
I do suggest either yourself or calling a sweep to clean the chimney out as best as can be. Then if you choose to run insulated liner in any capacity, you will be up to present code & temp rating.
Speaking of high chimney, the basement flue is a real long stack, must be about 40' - plus a horizontal run of about 4' from an airtight stove to a get through the foundation wall to reach the chimney, and it had only minor problems getting a updraft going. It was recommended that for the basement the best strategy was to open the clean-out door and put a lit piece of newpaper directly into the base of the chimney. That said, I didn't usually have much of a problem. I had burned anthracite coal in the basement for a couple of years, no creosote there, but a lot of acid. I haven't used coal in more than 5 years, and wood only occasionally, none this year. My use of wood/coal heat went down to recreational heating after I had a geothermal heat pump installed about 15 years ago, still we enjoyed the extra cozy warmth of a fire in the AT-stove and/or fireplace insert. Given the ongoing energy crunch, including increases in the cost of electricity, and the fact I have access, and still some strength, to "free" hardwood I am again temped to start at least supplemental wood heating to reduce heat pump costs.