Hey there! I am a new member but have lurked in the past. First off I want to say thanks so much to everyone who answers with their expertise. I don't always understand the answers I see here but it is clear a lot of professionals/folks with lots of experience take the time to answer questions from those of us with little experience- so thank you!
My husband and I recently decided to convert one of our gas fireplaces to wood, as we have six acres of woods and plenty of access to firewood. We figured we would have a professional line our chimney and possibly also install a wood stove, or maybe tackle the installing of a wood stove ourselves if it seemed pretty straightforward. I called around to numerous chimney are fireplace specialists, but we were out of their range (In the Piedmont of NC, but fairly rural area). We settled on a general contractor to come out and give us a quote on the job. it is a one story existing masonry chimney. He measured the chimney but did not remove the metal plate covering it's opening above the gas logs, nor did he get on the roof and look down the chimney. He gave us a quote of $3860 to line the chimney with a 6" metal pipe and install a wood stove for us. He also made it clear he would have to get on the roof and inspect the chimney first, and $3860 is if no issues were found. I am a bit taken aback at the price, as my husband and I had our chimney lined in our old home in Pittsburgh, PA that was two stories, needed an extender and a cap, and included a much nicer liner with a lifetime warranty for $2400 (about 4 years ago). If this is the going rate I think we will either have to try to do it ourselves or give up. I suspect this is an extremely high quote though and maybe I should keep looking for a contractor willing to do it. Any thoughts? Anyone do this work in the Piedmont of NC?
My husband and I recently decided to convert one of our gas fireplaces to wood, as we have six acres of woods and plenty of access to firewood. We figured we would have a professional line our chimney and possibly also install a wood stove, or maybe tackle the installing of a wood stove ourselves if it seemed pretty straightforward. I called around to numerous chimney are fireplace specialists, but we were out of their range (In the Piedmont of NC, but fairly rural area). We settled on a general contractor to come out and give us a quote on the job. it is a one story existing masonry chimney. He measured the chimney but did not remove the metal plate covering it's opening above the gas logs, nor did he get on the roof and look down the chimney. He gave us a quote of $3860 to line the chimney with a 6" metal pipe and install a wood stove for us. He also made it clear he would have to get on the roof and inspect the chimney first, and $3860 is if no issues were found. I am a bit taken aback at the price, as my husband and I had our chimney lined in our old home in Pittsburgh, PA that was two stories, needed an extender and a cap, and included a much nicer liner with a lifetime warranty for $2400 (about 4 years ago). If this is the going rate I think we will either have to try to do it ourselves or give up. I suspect this is an extremely high quote though and maybe I should keep looking for a contractor willing to do it. Any thoughts? Anyone do this work in the Piedmont of NC?