Expert: James Ball - 2/23/2009

Question
We live in Northern Michigan and recently we had a VERY cold snap..double digits below zero plus windchill.  We just had a chimney fire and were told to either redo the chimney or put in a liner.  Our chimney is outside and about 25ft. tall.
Is this something that we can do ourselves? (We're pretty handy) and do we also need to blanket the chimney because of the height and how cold it gets?  Is this something that we could do ourselves as well?
Our old woodstove was smaller than the one that we have now and we never had a problem with the old one.

Answer
Hello Tamara, I would have a local Certified Chimney Sweep (www.csia.org, there you can look up by zip code to find one near you) take a first hand look at what you have they should be able to help.They do make liner kits, but it must be sized right and installed correctly. also check with your local building department
James