Expert: James Ball - 1/11/2011

Question
My home was built in 1926 and I recently had my fireplace swept and inspected and I was told the terra cotta pipes inside the metal liner were miss aligned and cracked and should be re mortared. The estimate was for $375

I looked in there myself and could see that of the 3 pipes the 1 closes to the firebox was offset.

Is this repair typically done just by patching or is the entire thing pulled out, reset and dropped back in or is there now a better technology?
I really need to know the right questions to ask in order to make an informed decision.

Any guidance is appreciated!

Answer
Hello Montserrat, not sure what you have in most chimneys with Terra Cotta pipe is relined with a stainless steel tube and if you have "metal liner" that is "miss Aligned and cracked" then it might all have to be removed and relined.
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