"WPB" wrote in message
...
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?


My house, just a little older than yours, has an unlined brick chimney. When I
replaced the gutters, I discovered piles of ash around the chimney in the soffet
that wraps around it halfway to the top. That convinced me that I needed a
liner. I installed a used "certified" firplace insert woodstove which couples to
a stainless liner going up the old chimney. The glass door of the stove gives a
good fire view. No longer am I sucking all the heat out of the house when having
a fire. Instead, it puts lots of heat into the house, with the aid of its noisy
fan. Cleaning the chimney is easier, as a chimney brush runs straight down from
the top, and all the ash ends up in the stove when cleaning. For the money
you're talking, this could work for you also.