bob haller wrote:
you said previously you expected to pay for the entire chimney job so
that would be 4 grand...... the new boiler would include the water
heater...... they are one.

you would send a letter to the co owner informing them of the bad
chimney and that you are converting to direct vent.so the chimney
would be their responsibility.

it doesn't appear from the photos that if the chimney did fall it would
hit anything.

and since you haven't called a heating contractor for a estimate you
have no idea of what a new system would cost.

but heck its your money I am just pointing out another possible
solution one you don't care for,,,,,,,,,

You're right, I did day at the beginning that I had a feeling that I was
going to end up having to pay the whole amount to solve the problem (for
reasons that I did not explain). However, that is no longer the case and my
neighbor will be paying for his half of whatever we do.

If the chimney falls, it will crash through the porch roof, possibly with
people sitting on the porch.

I wouldn't want a boiler that also supplies the hot water. But, I could
always convert the my hot water heater to an electric heater. But, I can
assure you that I am not going to convent my whole house heating system to
another system just so I can make it a direct vent system. What type of
heating and hot water system do you have where you reside? Is it a high
efficiency direct vent system?

I'll post elsewhere in this thread about more information that I have been
learning as I go through this process of figuring out the best options.