Stuck between poly jacket and stainless liner on a job last month

Had to pick between putting in a flexible poly flue liner or going with a rigid stainless one for a customer's old masonry chimney near downtown. I went with the stainless because the chimney had a bad offset and I figured it'd hold up better over time. Took me an extra hour to wrestle it into place but the draft was perfect when I tested it. Anyone else run into a situation where the cheaper option just wasn't worth the headache?

3 comments

3 Comments

torres.jason21d ago

Man, you made the right call going stainless... I've been burned too many times trying to save a buck on a flexible poly liner. Had one twist up on me in a chimney with a bad offset last spring, ended up kinking it so bad the draft was garbage and I had to rip the whole thing out and start over. That extra hour wrestling with the rigid stuff saves you from coming back in six months when the poly starts sagging or cracking from the heat. Plus you're right about the draft... stainless just pulls cleaner, especially on those older narrow flues downtown.

wren82620d ago

Oh man, I totally get that. My buddy @kevin_schmidt97 actually had a similar thing happen with a poly liner in a fireplace with a real tight throat... it folded over on itself and we had to cut it out piece by piece. Never again with that stuff, especially on anything with any kind of turn. I'll take the extra weight of stainless any day if it means not having to tear it all out later.

kevin_schmidt9721d ago

Wait, a poly liner actually twisted up on you in the flue? That sounds like a nightmare... I've heard about them kinking but never that bad. @torres.jason, you must have been fighting that thing for hours.