Gothichome, the restoration of.

[Don M]

We have two SS liners, they work well.

[Texas_Ranger]

Maybe also look into cast-in-place concrete liners, they don't require any expensive materials and installation shouldn't take much longer than stainless steel! They're the norm in Austria and not too awfully expensive. What they do is basically tie a piece of old foam mattress to a rope and pull it up the flue while pouring down cement slurry from the roof, plastering the inside walls of the flue.

[Don M]

In the US they use a rubber bladder that is inflated in the chimney then concrete is poured around the bladder. Once the cement has hardened the bladder is deflated & removed from the chimney.

[Mick_VT]

Maybe also look into cast-in-place concrete liners, they don't require any expensive materials and installation shouldn't take much longer than stainless steel! They're the norm in Austria and not too awfully expensive. What they do is basically tie a piece of old foam mattress to a rope and pull it up the flue while pouring down cement slurry from the roof, plastering the inside walls of the flue.

I have heard this is particularly effective if the masonry is suspect / badly eroded. Most folks here in the NorthEast US go for stainless liners. Quite cheap and easy to install, IIRC from researching about a decade agao, cheaper than the cast in place liner too

[Texas_Ranger]

Now that you mention it I do remember that SS liners seem to be much cheaper in the US than in Europe. I think ours in a rather short flue (only ground floor starting more than halfway up to the ceiling and attic) cost well over 1000 Euros. Cast in place wasn't an option because we had bad issues with condensate from the gas water heater. We can'gt get flexible SS liners here either so if the flue is curved things get pretty tricky.

[Gothichome]

Wow. Yes, it is quite expensive. Have you looked into the stainless steel liners as an option?

Southernlady, Gothichome was built with stoves in all the rooms and they have long since gone and the chimney holes plastered over. The front parlour fireplace has also been bricked in, a long time before we bought the the home. The chimney wich services the water heater (with the liner) had been knocked down to roof level. As much as I would like to get the fireplace opened up and functioning, it will have to waite. Saying that,, a stainless liner would be the logical choice when the time comes.

[Gothichome]

As far as the cement liners for Gothichome, when we first bought we did look at getting the front parlour flue done but the fireplace fellow said nothing could be installed with the chimney in its current state. To make this happen I would have to rebuild the chimney from the at least the roof up. Our thoughts at the time was to rebuild, had a Masson look at it, he told us they are not allowed to rebuild the chimney with the large Victorian flare out at the top any more. A code thing I guess. At that point we saw no reason the precede, if we were going to rebuild we would want to have it rebuilt as it should be.

[Mick_VT]

As far as the cement liners for Gothichome, when we first bought we did look at getting the front parlour flue done but the fireplace fellow said nothing could be installed with the chimney in its current state. To make this happen I would have to rebuild the chimney from the at least the roof up. Our thoughts at the time was to rebuild, had a Masson look at it, he told us they are not allowed to rebuild the chimney with the large Victorian flare out at the top any more. A code thing I guess. At that point we saw no reason the precede, if we were going to rebuild we would want to have it rebuilt as it should be.

My bet is they would be allowed to do it if the chimney was "non-functional", you could have them put a solid cap or tile over the top which you could then remove later when you make it functional

[SouthernLady]

Goodness, sounds like you are in for a bit of work there...

I like Mick's idea. What he said goes kind of along with what the chimney people told me about my fireplaces. They said if they fix them they would not pass inspection because the combustible materials are too close to the fireplace opening itself. To combat this, there is a hood on the fireplace in the parlor. They said they should pass inspection if there is a hood on each one, and they added they knew of some cases where people removed said hood after the inspection (cough, cough), but that was none of their business once their job was done. The guy then added that if the fireplaces have been fully functional and just fine for the past 130+ years they should be fine now.

Is there any sort of restoration leniency to the chimney flare? Perhaps he just didn't want to do it? Yes, that would be quite odd to have a "plain" chimney top compared to the other lovely ones you have on your home.

[Gothichome]

Southernlady, it just may be that the fellow wanted nothing to do with the chimney rebuild, it was only a brief inquiry. Mick I'm sure there would be a work around after all there are many Victorians with chimney flares that look to be rebuilt or at least repointed in the area.
These inquiries were made in the early days just after purchase and there were many more pressing items that needed dealing with. At this point there still is but now that the roof is done all the 'must do' stuff is done. Other than the continuation of catching up with the defered maintenance, our major projects are more discretionary.