Chimney Liner Depot: Who are we?

Chimney Liner Depot is different from other online chimney liner dealers because we are not just a dealer.  Almost every online store you see selling chimney liners is just that, an online store and nothing more.  They buy their product from one place and resell and have it shipped to your home at a higher price.  Chimney Liner Depot is the manufacturer.  We do not just have a website but we also have a factory.

Chimney Liner Depot: What do we make?

Chimney Liner Depot offers a full line of stainless steel chimney liners.  We make in house, flexible chimney liner, rigid chimney liner, single flue chimney caps, multi-flue chimney caps, chase covers, stove pipe and much more.  We are constantly expanding our product line.  So keep up with us on our press releases to see what Chimney liner Depot has in store for the future.

Chimney Liner Depot: Why are we in the Business?

Chimney Liner Depot is in the chimney field because we care about people.  We saw that there are so many homes that need chimney repairs.  This is why there are thousands of chimney sweeps out there.  We also saw we could not repair all the chimneys that needed help.  We decided to design a website and train our staff to help the average homeowner save some money and install a chimney liner to make their chimney safe.  Chimney Liner Depot is here to help you make sure our family is safe.

Chimney Liner Top Plate Options

When you buy a chimney liner kit, it includes a top plate.  These top plates can vary in style and size.  It is very important to purchase the size you need.  Sometimes you can “make it work” and others times you cannot.  So it is best to do your research before purchasing.

Flat Top Plate

Flat top plates are just that, flat.  It is designed to sit flat on top of the chimney.  These are to be used when you have no terra-cotta flue extending above the crown or when you plan on removing the existing flue.  This style of top plates is not designed to sit on top of the flue.  The standard size is 13″ x 13″.  These are the outside measurements of the top plates.    Our flat top plates are also available in 13″ x 18″ and 18″ x 18″.  But any size is available upon request.

Terra-Cotta Top Plate

When you have a terra-cotta flue that extends out of the chimney, a terra-cotta top plate is suggested.  The top plate will wrap around the sides of the terra-cotta and secure to the outsides of the flue using 4 bolts that are adjusted tight to the flue.  Using this top plate is recommended when the terra-cotta is extending above the chimney because many times if you try to break the flue, it may crack the crown.   Terra-cotta top plates are available for all common flue sizes.

Deluxe Top Plates

Deluxe top plates come in either flat or terra-cotta style.  The only difference is that is has a square chimney cap built in.  The cap is hinged on one side that makes it a breeze for cleaning.  The deluxe top plates are the best looking top plates on the market.

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Rigid Vs. Flex

As you have researched for your purchase of a chimney liner, you have encountered a rigid chimney liner and a flex chimney liner.  What chimney liner do you need?  Obviously you do not want to spend extra money if it does not bring much of a benefit.  We will answer 4 questions.  When would you use a Rigid chimney liner?  What benefits does it have?  When would you use a Flex liner?  What benefits does it have?

When would you use a Rigid Chimney Liner?

You would use a rigid chimney liner when you want the BEST.  You would also want use rigid when you are using it for a solid burning appliance (wood, coal, pellet) that is your main source of heat.  One requirement is that your chimney be straight, free from bends.

What benefits does a Rigid Chimney Liner have?

A rigid chimney liner is strong.  You have the peace of mind that you have the best chimney liner on the market inside your chimney protecting you and your family from harmful fumes and a chimney fire that can be contained inside the liner.  Also, when you have a wood stove you want the best draft possible with as little creosote build up.

The rigid is a perfectly smooth inner wall.  Click HERE to learn how a smooth inner wall benefits you.  Rigid chimney liners can take a very aggressive cleaning, which means when you are done cleaning there should be absolutely nothing left in terms of creosote.

When would you use a Flex Chimney Liner?

You would use a flex chimney liner when your chimney has bends in it.  The flex is your only option in this case.  But there are a few styles of flex liners available.  This page will describe the difference between two of them.  If you have a gas furnace, this will not create creosote, so a flex liner may be sufficient in your case.

What benefits does a Flex Chimney Liner have?

A Flex chimney liner is light weight and easier to install than rigid.  The price is cheaper up front.  It will bend around fireplaces and easily connect to a fireplace insert.

How To install Flex Chimney Liner

Rigid chimney liner is the best.  But if for some reason it will not work in your case, seriously consider what style of flex liner you will need.  All our chimney liners and components are made from stainless steel.  If you can, use rigid chimney liner, it is the way to go.

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Flex King Vs. Flex King Pro

Many people see our Flex King and Flex King Pro chimney liners and wonder what chimney liner is best for their application.  There is no one answer that fits all.  Lets talk about when you would use a Flex King or a Flex King Pro first for a wood stove, then an oil furnace and finally a gas furnace.  You can clearly see the differences between the Flex King (on the left) and the smooth inner wall Flex King Pro (on the right).

Flex King Pro for Wood stoves

Generally we will say Flex King Pro is the best liner for wood stoves.  This is because it has a smooth inner wall.  That smooth wall creates for better draft and less creosote build up.  So if you plan on using your wood stove for more than just the occasional fire, the Flex King Liner is what you want.  If you are not going to burn your stove regularly, possibly just here and there on weekends, the Flex King will work just fine for you.  One thing you need to use, no matter what liner you install for your wood stove, is insulation.  Click here to learn why it is required.

So the verdict is if you burn more than here and there, install the Flex King Pro for your wood stove.

Flex King or Flex King Pro for Oil

Oil furnaces can go either way.  Sometimes it is recommended to use a Flex King Pro and other times a Flex King.  This is mainly determined on how well the furnace burns.  Sometimes an oil burner can be sensitive to draft, especially when the chimney is shorter than normal.  Sometimes the oil burner does not burn very clean and creates a thick soot in the chimney.  This can lead to a blocked chimney.  We highly suggest hiring a furnace specialist to clean and adjust the furnace immediately.  So if you have no issues with draft, your chimney is plenty tall enough and the furnace burns clean you can use the Flex King chimney liner.

Flex King for Gas Furnaces

The modern gas furnaces burn fairly clean.  When there is perfect combustion water is one of the by-products.  This is not just any water, it has acids within it.  This is no good for masonry chimneys.  The masonry will soak in the water and the acids will quickly eat away at the terra cotta flues and the bricks or blocks.  To prevent this damage you need to install a Flex King chimney Liner.  Some high efficient furnaces have cooler exhaust temperatures so the water condenses quickly inside the chimney.  In rare cases the water condenses at such high rates inside a cold chimney, water can be seen leaking out of the bottom of the chimney.  If you have this problem, you will need to insulate the chimney liner to keep that water inside the chimney as a steam.  This will prevent it from condensing and causing more problems.

If you have further questions, please contact us. We will help you decide what Flex King Liner will be best for you.

phone: 1-866-941-5112         email: contact@chimneylinerdepot.com

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Why do you clean a Fireplace?

Many people love coming home to see a cozy fire in the fireplace.  This is always a favorite for special family occasion.  Some people only burn wood in the fireplace occasionally while others have a warm fire every evening during the winter months.  A fireplace can also be extremely dangerous.  According to www.usfa.fema.gov, “Heating fires account for 36% of residential home fires in rural areas every year. Often these fires are due to creosote buildup in chimneys and stovepipes.”   The main reason for these fires is carelessness and a lack of cleaning.  We will discuss how to clean a fireplace.

How do you clean a Fireplace?

Cleaning and inspecting a fireplace annually can prevent multiple issues.  Many homeowners clean their own fireplace chimneys.  This is fine as long as you know how to thoroughly and properly clean a fireplace chimney.  As seen in the diagram below, there are multiple components to a fireplace and its chimney. 

Once you seal up the opening of the fireplace to prevent dust from escaping, you can proceed to the roof.  The first thing you need to know is the size of your chimney flue.  The most common sizes for fireplace flues are 8″x13″ and 13″x13″.  You will need a wire brush that fits snugly inside the flue.  Now you can start by inserting the chimney brush from the top and working your way down.  Sometimes if the flue has extra creosote build up, you may need to pass the brush through the flue multiple times.

The most important thing to know when you clean a fireplace.

Look at the above diagram closely.  When you clean a fireplace flue, all the highly flammable creosote is not swept down the fireplace floor.  It is resting on top of the smoke shelf.  This is the most important spot to clean when you clean a fireplace chimney.  Now you have a pile of flammable creosote just a few inches above the flame.  You will need to reach up into the fireplace with a vacuum hose or other appropriate tool to remove all the creosote.  Once you remove all of the creosote that is on the smoke shelf, you now need to sweep out the rest of the firebox and discard of all the ashes.  These are the most basic steps in how to clean a fireplace and the chimney.

Round Stainless Steel Insert Boot

A round stainless steel insert boot is designed to make the connection from an insert between a square or rectangle flue outlet and a round chimney liner.  Many old style fireplace inserts have a rectangle flue outlet.  This is because at one time they believed it to be OK just to set the stove inside the fireplace and call it good.  This is no longer the case.  Now we know of the dangers caused by this type of install.

What size Insert Boot do I need?

Every stove needs a proper size chimney liner for proper draft.  The square inches of the outlet on the stove needs to be as close as possible to the amount of square inches of the chimney liner.  First, you measure the length and the width of the flue outlet on the stove (as seen in pic).  Once you have your total square inches, you now know what size of insert boot you need. 

Insert Boot Measurements

A round chimney liner is designed to be mechanically mounted to the insert boot.  The insert boot will also need to be screwed to the top of the insert.  You need to install an insert boot that will accept a chimney liner that can handle the same amount of square inches as the outlet on the stove.  This means for example, if your measurements are 4″ x 9.5″, your total square inches are 38″.  Now it is as simple as finding a chimney liner that will handle 38″ square inches.

• 6″ chimney liner is 28.3 sq. inches
• 7″ chimney liner is 38.5 sq. inches
• 8″ chimney liner is 50.3 sq. inches

In conclusion, you will simply use the above chart to discover what size chimney liner you need and what size round insert boot you may need also.  One possibility that you may encounter is, on some stoves, the flue outlet is extra large.  The average insert boot may not cover the flue outlet.  Do not worry.  Give us a call and we can make one to any size you need.   If you are still confused or have other questions about purchasing and installing a chimney liner and an insert boot, please contact us 1-866-941-5112 or visit us on Facebook.

Why do you need a chimney liner?

You may ask, “Why do you need a chimney liner?”.  You may think that your chimney has been there for almost a hundred years and as far as you know it is safe.  So why is my chimney sweep telling me I need to install a chimney liner now?

Chimney liners are designed to keep the harmful gases of your furnace or creosote from the stove inside the chimney and keep them from entering your home. Many homes have a chimney with very old technology. They have terra cotta (clay) flue liners. They were designed to work with coal, they still do work for coal. But now very few people burn coal as a main heating source.

Why do you need a chimney liner if you are burning gas, oil or wood?

Today many people burn natural gas and home heating oil. The terra cotta flues were not designed to withstand the acids inside the exhaust. Wood burning stoves create creosote, that when hot, is a flammable liquid. This creosote can be seen in the picture leaking into the home.  This is an extremely dangerous chimney.  As you can see the flammable creosote is now entering into the home and can easily ignite, catching the home on fire.  With gas and oil burning appliances, eventually the terra cotta deteriorates, creating he possibility of the chimney flues falling over inside the chimney.  This will creat a blocked chimney, a very dangerous situation for your family.

You need a stainless steel chimney liner, it is what will stand up to the harsh exhaust from a modern furnace and the dangerous creosote from a wood stove.

Why you need a chimney liner?
http://www.chimneylinerdepot.com/articles-2/chimney-liner-articles/do-i-need-a-chimney-flue-liner/

The importance of Seasoning Firewood

Now that the burning season for most of has finished, we have to start thinking about seasoning firewood for the seasons to come.  Hopefully you already have your firewood split and stacked for the coming burning season.  In a perfect world you would already have 2 years of firewood stacked.  This is because some wood can take around 3 years to be ready to burn.

Dangers of not seasoning firewood

Many dangers can result in burning wet wood.  This will create more creosote in your chimney.  That is a fact, wet wood equals a dirty chimney.  A dirty chimney puts you at a high risk of a chimney fire.  Having unseasoned firewood means you have too much water in the wood.  This also means you will not get as hot of a burn as you would like to in your wood stove, causing o to waste more wood than you would have to to heat your home.  The glass on your stove also gets lots of creosote build up, taking away from the ascetics of a real fire.

One sign that your wood is too wet is that when it burns it is smokey.  The best way to know if your wood is dry enough is to buy a moisture meter.  Moisture content should be 20% or less.  If it is much higher than that, your firewood needs to be dried.  It is necessary to burn dry wood in any type of appliance.

So basically if you haven’t already started collecting your wood for this coming winter do it now.  Seasoning firewood may take around 3 years for some wood, so start early and save yourself from the risk of a chimney fire.

Check out this video on showing you an interesting way how to stack firewood and start seasoning firewood:

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Right now we have special chimney liner sales on….well you will have to go check us out.  It is the best sale on internet right now for a stainless steel chimney liner.  Let us know what you would like to have on sale.  Show us pics of your installs.  Show us before and after pics.  Ask for tech help.  Or just tell us how you are doing.  We love hearing from our customers, this way we can know where we can improve and where we are exceeding.

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If your chimney flue is deteriorating your chimney may be dangerous. If you have cracked flue tiles or missing flue tiles your venting system may be allowing dangerous gases to enter your home. What can you do about this? How can you repair a deteriorating chimney without a complete chimney re-build?

You’ve come to the right place for solving your chimney flue problems. Chimney Liner Depot manufactures flexible and rigid chimney flue liners which are designed to reline existing masonry chimneys. Basically a stainless steel chimney flue liner is designed to replace the clay flue tiles in your chimney. Keep in mind a chimney liner is not a chimney system. It’s an insert for your chimney.

We carry a full line of UL Listed flexible and rigid chimney flue liners. Call us today for help with your project. 1-866-941-5112