I appreciate you comments--thank you.

Good advice. I'll ask both the $175 guy and the $1,400-$4,000 guy exactly
what they would do. Both these guys work for chimney repair companies and
aren't handy-men. But the $175 guy is also pushing the $2,500 liner in a
really hard-sell way and that's put me off. Yes, the bricks are definitely
loose and I can pull them out by hand (and I have). But for an area so
small my gut-feeling was that this shouldn't be a multi-thousand dollar
job. It's not like I want the chimney floor in gold leaf. Up to $4,000
for just a brick and mortar job? Ay-yi-yi.

Well, I'm a new homeowner (well, almost four years now) so there's always
something to learn.

Thanks again!

David


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.