A Reline is Much More than a Liner

Chimney inspections are needed to verify that the chimney is structurally sound. Never use a chimney that does not have a chimney liner or has a damaged or improper lining.

A common San Diego chimney repair is the masonry reline. There are many reasons why a fireplace may need to be relined-including damage to the brick on the inside of the chimney.

This damage is usually found during a chimney sweep and/or inspection. During this examination, the inspector will look for deficiencies in the size or condition of the chimney. These deficiencies can be anything from a crack or hole in the liner to the soundness of mortar joints.

If a problem is found during an inspection or sweep, you will be notified and your options for repair presented.

The process

Prior to installation of the lining system, thoroughly inspect and clean the chimney. All creosote (including tar glaze creosote), soot, dirt and debris must be removed before the installation of the liner. Thorough cleaning of the chimney is a prerequisite. The chimney must be inspected for cracked, loose, or missing stones, bricks and/or mortar joints. A chimney that is not structurarlly sound should not be relined. Make any necessary repairs before proceeding with the installation of the liner.

Begin with removal of the firebox and replace antique design and firebrick with 1900 foundry brick. Sweep out the ash pit, which can be a major cause of chimney failure, soot and ground moisture which creates caustic acid. Replace doors if necessary, reseal fireplace original brick walls up through the throat, the smoke chamber and up to the top of the throat where the stainless steal flue starts. Seal the bottom of the liner all with structural Type S Cement and additives of high heat refraactory mortar and anti-hydrop (which makes cement water resistant). The void between the stainless liner and unlined portion of the inner chimney should be filled with a light weight cement, fortify the liner to the chimney and this adds thermal mass. The top of the chimney is a 6″ masonry flue liner with 3″ of concrete cap with additives, fast setting high strength cement and engineering fibers. The cement cap is steel tooled slick finish (like the sidewalk) to repell the water off the chimney.

Above the cement cap and on top of the masonry flue liner, we install a stainless powder coasted black spark arrestor and top mounted damper to seal the chimney off when not in use. They are air tight, bee tight, and help to reduce airplane noise. In Point Loma, this was used for the “Quieter Home Project”. These are all the components of a standard reline.

Additional repairs may be needed to tuck point loose and missing deteriorated mortar, and veneer deteriorated bricks. They must all be sealed with a strong masonry sealant called “Chimney Saver”. Brick crowns that are rebuilt or added to the chimney can have 2 tier | 3 tier | 5 tier for a vintage design. Leaning chimneys are removed and replaced with original brick and matching vintage brick from our collection of salvaged brick.

Cracks in stucco chimneys are injected with strong masonry epoxy. Then we blend and repair the stucco. Steel structural support bands are used to anchor the chimney to the house and fortify and repair deteriorated base of the chimney under the house. We also repair and replace fireplaces faces, facades and plaster, brick and antique tile.