You still aren't over the shock of the esitimate your chimney sweep left you for what he says is needed to use your chimney safely. He told you that you need to install a stainless steel chimney liner in your existing masonry chimney. You have no idea what a stainless steel chimney liner is. Most of all you have no idea why the sweep wants so much money to do the job.
You found your way to this site, so you must be interested in doing the job yourself. So lets discuss some options you have and the types of stainless steel chimney liner that are out there.
First thing you should be aware of is that most manufacturers won't honor a warranty for a stainless steell chimney pipe installation if a non professional does the work. However, Royal Chimney Supply, the manufacturer of Flex King chimney liners will honor the warranty if you do the job yourself.
You can choose to use either a rigid stainless steel chimney liner or flexible pipe. Flexible pipe should be used if your chimney is less than perfectly straight with no joggs or offsets. If you have a nice straight chimney you most definately should use rigid chimney pipe.
Rigid stainless steel chimney liner is the best product available to line a chimney. It's thick, and cleans the best. It's the most durable and will never rip if you clean it agressively. Light flexible chimney liners need to be cleaned with a type of plastic chimney brush because they are so thin.
There are different types of thicker more durable flexible liners available. Flex King Pro is a double wall, smooth interior liner. It cleans much better than standard Flex King liners and is more durable.
Heavy Flexible liners are very thick and durable. The only problem with them is that they are very heavy. A homeowner may have some trouble when installing a heavy flex stainless steel chimney liner.
If you are going to purchase a light flex stainless steel chimney liner you should buy one that is made from 316TI stainless steel. A lot of lesser quality liners are made from 316L. The TI stands for titanium. The addition of titanium gives the liner the ability to withstand less than perfect chimney conditions.
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