Chimney Relining in Geneva, IL
Stainless steel liners for cracked clay tile, and correct resizing when a furnace, boiler or insert has been changed without anyone adjusting the flue.
- Insured & Bonded
- 19 years in the trade
- Photos of every finding
- Open 7 days, 7am–8pm
What the liner does
The liner is the inner sleeve that actually carries smoke and combustion gases up and out. It does three jobs at once: it contains heat so the surrounding masonry and any nearby framing never get hot enough to ignite, it protects the brickwork from acidic combustion byproducts that eat mortar, and it gives the system a smooth correctly-sized passage so it drafts.
Older Geneva houses were built with clay tile liners, and clay is good at handling heat but poor at handling sudden temperature change. A chimney fire, or years of thermal cycling, cracks the tiles and opens the joints between them. Once that happens the liner is no longer a sealed passage, and the gap between “carries gas safely to the outside” and “vents hot gas into a wall cavity” is not one worth gambling on. Some of the oldest houses out here were never lined at all.
When relining is the honest answer
Cracked or missing tiles
Camera shows broken tiles, open joints, or tile shards sitting on the smoke shelf. Not repairable in place — the passage has to be made continuous again.
After a chimney fire
A flue fire routinely cracks clay. Any chimney that has had one needs a Level 2 inspection before it is used again.
New appliance, old flue
Swap a big old furnace for a high-efficiency unit and the original flue is now far too large. Gases cool, condense, and corrode the chimney from the inside.
Fitting a wood insert
An insert needs a correctly sized liner run to the top. Venting one into a large open masonry flue is a common and serious installation error.
Unlined chimney
Common in genuinely old housing stock. If it is going to be used, it needs a liner.
Persistent draft problems
Sometimes the flue is simply the wrong size for the appliance, and no amount of sweeping fixes geometry.
Sizing is the part that gets done wrong
An oversized flue is as much of a problem as an undersized one, and it is the error we correct most often. Gases rising through a flue that is too large for the appliance lose heat, slow down, and condense on the walls. With a modern high-efficiency furnace that condensate is acidic and it will destroy masonry steadily from the inside. With a wood appliance the same cooling produces heavy creosote.
So the first thing we do is not sell you a liner — it is work out what size the appliance actually requires, based on its output rating, the height of the chimney and the manufacturer specification. Then the liner is sized to that. A correctly sized stainless liner in a sound chimney is generally good for the life of the house.
Relining starting prices are on the pricing page. Relining is normally preceded by a Level 2 inspection, because nobody should be quoting a liner without camera evidence of why it is needed.
Been told you need a liner?
Get a second opinion with camera footage. We will tell you if you do not need one.
Chimney relining questions
How do I know if my chimney needs relining?
Camera evidence. Cracked or displaced clay tiles, open joints, or an unlined flue in use. Also any chimney that has had a fire, and any flue now serving an appliance it was not sized for. If someone recommends a liner without showing you inside the flue, ask to see the footage.
How long does a stainless liner last?
A quality stainless liner correctly sized and installed in a sound chimney is generally a once-in-the-life-of-the-house job. What shortens that is installing the wrong grade for the fuel, or dropping a liner into a chimney whose structural problems were never fixed.
Can you reline without rebuilding the chimney?
Usually, yes — that is the main appeal. A stainless liner is fed down the existing flue and insulated, so the masonry stays where it is. The exception is a chimney with structural failure; a liner inside a stack that is coming apart is treating the wrong problem.
Why did my new furnace create a chimney problem?
Because high-efficiency appliances send out cooler, wetter exhaust than the equipment they replaced, and the old flue is now oversized for it. The gases condense instead of rising, and the condensate is acidic. Resizing the liner to the new appliance is the fix.
How long does relining take?
A straightforward single-flue reline is commonly a one-day job. Complications that add time are offsets or bends in the flue, a chimney that needs masonry work first, or two flues in one stack.
Is an insulated liner worth it?
Generally yes, and sometimes it is required. Insulation keeps flue gases hotter, which improves draft and sharply reduces creosote on wood appliances. It also maintains clearance safety where a chimney runs close to framing.
Can I just have the cracked tiles replaced?
Rarely practical. Individual clay tiles are buried inside the masonry and reaching them means opening up the chimney, which usually costs more than lining it. Relining is the normal answer for cracked tile.
Do you reline chimneys for gas appliances?
Yes, and it is common. Gas flues get oversized whenever an appliance is upgraded, and the resulting condensation quietly damages the chimney for years before anyone notices.
Written by Rick Lee, owner of Zenith Chimney Service in Geneva, Illinois. 19 years in the chimney trade.
Published August 27, 2026