Chimney Repair & Caps

What Should I Know About Relining a Chimney?

• Why reline a chimney?

  There are several possible reasons to reline a chimney:

  1. In houses built prior to the 1950s, masons often did not use terra cotta flue liners. Please see our glossary of terms page for more information on the dangers of unlined flues.
  2. When a wood stove is hooked into a thimble, (a round opening where a woodstove connects to a masonry chimney, usually made of terra cotta or metal) directly into a terra cotta lined chimney, sometimes the flue is too big for the appliance to draft properly. For specifics, please see our glossary page.
  3. Wood stoves or wood stove inserts installed in fireplaces should have a full liner all the way to the top of the flue. A direct connect, on the other hand, is when an insert or a woodstove is installed into a masonry fireplace without a full liner. See our glossary of terms page for a more thorough explanation of this installation type.
  4. Occasionally, because of a chimney fire, earthquake, or age, terra cotta flue tiles develop cracks that render the chimney unsafe to use without being relined, either with a stainless steel liner, a poured refractory liner, or the HeatShield® system. Vertical cracks in a chimney flue are usually caused by heat expansion and contraction, as often occurs with chimney fires. Horizontal cracks are usually caused by physical movement, such as an earthquake.
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• What types of chimney relining do you offer?

  We install stainless steel liners in a wide variety of sizes and shapes, suitable for woodstoves, woodburning inserts, gas inserts, and gas stoves. We do not install poured chimney liners, flue liner composed of high-temperature concrete poured in place inside a masonry flue. If a poured liner is the best solution for your needs, we can refer you to a reputable company that does those.

  Wooden Sun is also a certified dealer and installer of the HeatShield system for flue repair and resurfacing, which repairs cracks, spalling, or missing mortar joints without the need for a stainless steel liner. Terra Cotta flue tiles often become cracked over time, as a result of chimney fires, earthquakes/lightning strikes, or simply natural wear and tear occurring over time. These cracks can be dangerous, as they allow heat and fumes to escape into the brick of your chimney, and from there into your house (per CSIA and NFPA standards).

• Will a stainless steel liner help with my draft?

  Yes, a liner will help your draft; in most cases the improvement will be signficant. It is very important to have your flue sized correctly for your appliance, and we select liners to be the optimum size for your stove or insert. We install our liners with a ceramic fiber insulation blanket wrapped around them wherever possible (or else we would pour an insulation around the stainless liner), to achieve the best draft.

• Is a stainless steel liner safer?

  Yes, a stainless liner does not have cracks to allow heat or flue gases to penetrate the chimney, and it prevents dangerous
  glazed creosote deposits from forming in hard-to-reach areas of the chimney.with insulation is much safer than either a direct connect or terra cotta flue tiles.

• Is a stainless steel liner easier to clean?

  Yes, a stainless liner prevents dangerous  glazed creosote deposits from forming in hard-to-reach areas of the chimney. Flue  gases do not expand and cool rapidly as  in a direct-connect installation, which  prevents third-degree creosote from forming. is very quick and easy to clean, much more so than a direct connect.

• Does the stainless steel liner affect efficiency?

  Yes, having a liner sized properly for your appliance significantly increases its efficiency.

• How long will a stainless liner last?

  Our liners are made of high grade stainless steel and come with a lifetime warranty.

• A full liner costs more than I want to spend. Is there another way to install my stove or insert?

  There is one other kind of installation that meets building code, called a direct connect. We do not install direct connect installations, and the National Fireplace Institute does not allow them. We don’t feel that direct connects are safe, and you can learn why here. Please note that it is not legal, and very dangerous, to install a stove or insert into a fireplace without either a direct connect or a full liner – this is referred to as a slammer. A “slammer” is when an insert or a stove Is pushed into the fireplace without any liner or pipe coming out of the top. This kind of installation produces heavy deposits of third-degree creosote on and around the insert, which can easily ignite and cause damage to the insert and chimney, or even start a house fire.

• What is involved with installing a stainless steel liner? How do you get it into my chimney?

  The insulation and mesh are wrapped around the liner on the ground. Depending on your installation, we may carry the liner up onto your roof and drop it down the chimney,  or we may attach a winch at the top and pull it up the chimney.

• Does the liner ever get stuck?

  We do our best to make sure with proper measuring beforehand that the liner will go into your chimney without a hitch. Sometimes, however, in spite of our best efforts, the liner gets stuck–sometimes because of an offset, sometimes because of excessive mortar protruding from the flue tiles, sometimes because the flue tiles are not installed straight, sometimes in an unlined chimney because the space too narrow. We can usually get it free with some well-applied wiggling. Very rarely, it is necessary to take some bricks out at the point where the liner is sticking in order to maneuver it down. We should be able to tell you what the likelihood of this is beforehand.