On Apr 17, 7:59*am, WPB wrote:
Hello, all: I'd be grateful if someone could give me some advice on two
points.

1. *Last autumn I had a chimney cleaner come over and he told me that I
needed a steel liner in my chimney (to the tune of $2,500). *My house is
older--about 65 years old. *He told me that I was taking a real risk. *
Other people have told me that a chimney liner is completely unnecessary
and a waste of money. *Opinions?

2. *The bricks in the "floor" of my chimney are all loose. *That's bad.. *
But one guy quoted me $175 to repair them (get them all locked into place
and safe) and another guy quoted me $1,400 to $4,000. *Quite the
difference! *Who should I believe?

Many thanks!

David in Toronto

Someone has to look inside the chimney to see what is going on and if
a liner is needed. If loose you mean you can move them then its bad.
175 , if he removes them , cleans and remortars them then ok, if he is
just pushing in a 1/4" of mortar than no. Not knowing how many and how
bad who can say. The 175 is probably a handyman doing it in a day he
figures, but he may not understand how bad it really is. 1400-4000 may
be the other extreme. You need more bids and to learn what is really
going on. Get a guy to look in the chimney and photograph the issues,
get bids.