Expert: James Ball - 6/9/2010

Question
House chimney 45 years old, flue tiles cracked, some actually moved a little.  Builder friend says to put a large bolt in chuck of old powerful drill, connect chain to bolt, turned on . . . run down chimney to break old flue tile up, covering fireplace hole below with heavy tarp.  Next, build a form at bottom of chimney supported temporarily with brick or block.  Seal best possible with visqueen around basic 6" stove pipe extending to chimney top.  Mix a couple of Type S bags of sakrete and dump into chimney for base of chimney repair.  Let set up.  Then fill chimney around rest of pipe (to top).  Remove form at bottom after all concrete sets up.  Add top plate & cap.

Will this work?

Necessary to use refractory cement?

Don't want to burn house down, but would like to avoid great expense of stainless steel tubing, etc.

Feedback?

Answer
Hello Steve, I would not do that in my house and when they do a chimney restoration they use a much lighter cement then what you would be using as weight is a big issue,also any new "lining" must be insulated on all solid fuel appliances.
To do this right the old flue must be removed (tile breaker and metal rods to the drill) then an insulated SS liner be installed, cap on top. or remove old flue tiles and re line with same type by lowering them down (also special tool) but not as reliable.
Check with your local building department and see what they will let you do.
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.
Hope this helps
James