Flexible chimney liner,or?

[bbrz]

Ready to re roof and our brick chimney is in bad shape(50's ranch). Can't change out the w/h or furnace to a power vent just yet so wanting to take the brick down below the roof line and come out with metalbestos or similar. Anyone done something like this? It is a straight shot down, but don't think a tee or ell will fit down the clay liner. Not looking for pricing, just advice.
I'm a plumber and have a little know how, but just searching for input. Doable?

 

[Jackfre]

Yes, you can do that. Better choice I think is to take the chimney all the way down. Think about whether it frees up room for you that would be desirable. I did it at home and it allowed the opening of the whole first floor. Check on Dura-vent or Selkirk's site. They have base plates from which you can go up with their products. If the top of the chimney is in bad shape the bottom is too. If you are going to reline, or want to re-line you can break the tile liner out to gain some space. Is it oil or gas fired. Check the B-vent sizing guidelines for your chimney. You can likely use a reduced diameter flue depending upon how old your equipment is

 

[Ironhorse74]

I used to reline a lot of chimneys. There are tees available that attach through the breech with hose clamps or other means. Once the liner exits the masonry chimney in your attic, it will have to transition to b-vent.

You don't say what is wrong with your chimney. However a good crown and surface bonding cement would probably fix it for cheap if you do it yourself.

 

[Jackfre]

The other side of this is balancing the cost of Chimney repairs to extend the life of lower efficiency appliances. Look at the cost benefit if you apply that money to a new furnace and water heater. Btw, more than likely if you put in a new condemning furnace you would have to reline the chimney for the water heater anyway as it would than be way oversized.

 

[Townmann]

I did a job in the spring similar to what you are doing. This Transition Plate I found at Rockford Chimney Supply worked really well. It has a collar with a clamp on the underside to attach a flex liner to the plate. https://www.rockfordchimneysupply.com/rock-vent-transition-plate.php The tees Ironhorse74 was talking about make it easy to connect the b-vent to the liner. The part of the tee that gets connected to the liner will be a 1/2 inch larger in diameter than the liner you are installing. So if you are installing a 6" diameter liner, your chimney will have to accommodate a 6.5" diameter down your flue. Depending on the BTU you are burning, you may be able to downsize the liner by using a smooth wall liner. They have 20% better draft for gas burning appliances as opposed to the corrugated liners.

 

[danski0224]

That's what happens when cheap bid guy (or DIY) puts an 80% AFUE furnace into an unlined masonry chimney.

 

[Highbeam]

Get rid of the masonry. You'll be happier. I tore out our 1963 masonry chimney and replaced with metal pipe. The roof is easier to make leak free, the earthquakes won't break up the masonry anymore, there is almost zero maintenance, etc. Masonry chimneys are antiques.