On Apr 17, 3:41*pm, WPB wrote:
Thanks very much for your comments!

Someone has to look inside the chimney to see what is going on and if
a liner is needed

I've been told that they can send a video probe down through the chimney
to see what the condition is. *More $$$$$$$, of course, for that. *The
other thing that bothers me about the liner is that they have to knock
out all the bricks outside my house in order to put the liner in. *I'm
not thrilled with the thought of them breaking through a brick wall that
looks fine and has been in great shape since 1941.

Unfortunately around here you need to pay at least $75 for an
inspection (or $125 for a clean and inspect) before a mason will quote
any required repairs.

Fortunately in Toronto most contractors give free estimates. *And
there's a good website where contractors are rated by their clients so I
can filter out those that have had terrible reviews.

Among other things, if the mortar inside the chimny is as bad as the
outside (implied by the need to repair some loose bricks) then the
liner is advisable, cracked bricks may or may not be an issue. *A
cheaper cosmetic fix may be suitable for a few years but maybe you
want a fix to last decades. *If you can see smoke leaking from any
part of the chimny, a liner is required.

The chimney sweep guy told me that there may be cracks in the mortar on
the inside of the chimney might allow a spark to get in and start a fire
between the first and second floor. *His doom and gloom scenarios threw
me for a loop. *But he was a bit of a hard sell and his company (which
does both cleaning and repairs) have been calling me every couple of
months to ask if I'm ready to get the $2,500 liner installed. *The hard
sell makes me suspicious.

Thanks again!

David

Ive never heard of removing all the bricks to do it, one way is a
balloon is inflated inside the chimney and concrete is poured around
it. For 2500 a guy wants to tear apart your chimney, put in a liner
and rebuild it? Sounds to cheap and I bet it would look bad. Id say
you would be in real danger of loosing the whole chimney doing it that
way.