Question about insert installation

[Brimart]

I just pulled out a slammed in (I think that's the right terminology) insert in our old masonry fireplace. The home was built in 1955 I believe. My father in law has owned it since sometime in the 1970's. He says he installed the insert around 25 years ago. It was in pretty poor condition, very warped, and missing most of the firebrick inside, so we yanked it.

A friend gave us a much newer certified stove and we want to install it proper. I'm thinking I will order a kit from Rockford to run a new liner down the chimney. After pulling the old insert, I noticed the damper was mangled and corroded. Without much effort it ripped out. The smoke shelf has quite a bit of ash built up, which leads me to my question:

How thorough a clean should I give this chimney if I'm not really going to be using it? I plan on installing a block off plate, so the masonry chimney will essentially just be a conduit for the new insulated liner. Please correct me if I'm mistaken here.

I live in a fairly small town and just moved here in July 2020, so I haven't found out who does chimney inspections yet. I plan on making some phone calls Monday, but figured I would see if I could get any advice here while I wait out the weekend. Thanks in advance for any help.

-Brian

 

[bholler]

I just pulled out a slammed in (I think that's the right terminology) insert in our old masonry fireplace. The home was built in 1955 I believe. My father in law has owned it since sometime in the 1970's. He says he installed the insert around 25 years ago. It was in pretty poor condition, very warped, and missing most of the firebrick inside, so we yanked it.

A friend gave us a much newer certified stove and we want to install it proper. I'm thinking I will order a kit from Rockford to run a new liner down the chimney. After pulling the old insert, I noticed the damper was mangled and corroded. Without much effort it ripped out. The smoke shelf has quite a bit of ash built up, which leads me to my question:

How thorough a clean should I give this chimney if I'm not really going to be using it? I plan on installing a block off plate, so the masonry chimney will essentially just be a conduit for the new insulated liner. Please correct me if I'm mistaken here.

I live in a fairly small town and just moved here in July 2020, so I haven't found out who does chimney inspections yet. I plan on making some phone calls Monday, but figured I would see if I could get any advice here while I wait out the weekend. Thanks in advance for any help.

-Brian

It needs cleaned very well.

 

[jetsam]

If the chimney's full of creosote, it can light off and be a real fire hazard whether or not there's a liner in the middle.

(Even if it doesn't do that, it will probably stink a lot. Slammer installs are creosote factories.)