Chimney Liner Installation in North Hills, CA

Chimney liner installation in North Hills

The Northridge quake of 1994 centered close to here. Valley stacks sheared at the roofline. Plenty were rebuilt from the shoulder up. You can usually spot it yourself. The top courses carry brighter mortar. Nobody looked at the tile below that patch. Offset joints are the common find.

Burn habits shape what we pull out. Winter brings SCAQMD Check Before You Burn advisories. Fires end up short and infrequent. Flue gas never warms the tile. Condensate glazes into hard tar. Flaky soot sweeps off; glaze does not.

Work starts with a camera run and a tile count. Stainless gets ovalized to pass square clay. Sometimes tile is broken out from the top for diameter. That is loud and dusty. Insulation wrap goes on to keep gases warm. Sizing follows the firebox or the insert outlet, not the old flue.

Access changes the day more than anyone expects. Many North Hills tracts wear low-slope composition roofs. Others got barrel tile later, and tile breaks underfoot. Crown cracks and rusted chase covers get handled at the same time.

Decommissioned fireplaces with gas logs are a separate conversation. If the stack leans or the brick is spalled through, relining it first is wasted effort.