Purchased a new Bryant Heating and A/C unit in July the installers were unable to get a Chimney liner down the stack I have at my house. This house was built in 1958 and has never had a liner installed. I’m being told a crew has to install this and it has to be done.

So do I really need this? I guess to install the thing a chimney company has to come out and punch a hole in the brick and clean the chimney out.

Yes you do! The efficiency of a new furnace is such that it never gets the chimney warm enough to get rid of condensate(that is acidic) and will eventually ruin the mortar joints between the flue liners. No flue liners, even worse outcome!

Yup. New furnaces are much more efficient than the old ones. Flue temperatures are lower, allowing for condensation which will damage your old flue tiles. Had it done before.

As others have said, 'deed you do.

I used a one-piece flexible stainless steel insert (think dryer vent hose on steroids) and dropped it down the chimney myself. Furnace guy terminated it and hooked it to the furnace. I don't recall how much it cost but it was WAY cheaper than the re-line job with the pneumatic forms.

I guess they have to knock some mortar out of my stack.

Will this kind of work damage the chimney? Should I get something I. Writing that any damage they need to fix. Not me?

If you haven’t already had the furnace installed which with the blockage they shouldn’t have look at going with a 96% furnace which can be vented thru the wall in pcv

Liner for furnace or an existing orphaned water heater?

There is tile on the inside of the chimney I guess that’s what’s blocking the liner from being installed.

The liner will support both a hot water tank and the 80% furnace.

Since you live in Ohio, why are they installing a 80% furnace?

Is there no way to penetrate the structure to properly vent a high efficient furnace with PVC?
(Which would allow them to install a smaller liner for the water heater)

I'm second guessing here but am also wondering about that 80% furnace. Here is why, I'm a chimney sweep who lined chimneys for gas and oil furnaces for years...(been at this for 36) I can't remember the last time I lined a chimney for a gas furnace,... just about all I see now is high efficiency ones power vented out with PVC. One of the issues with lining to what you have is sizing for both the furnace and hot water unit. Liner has to be figured depending on the vertical run and horizontal run and the total BTUs of both units... but it can't be less than the outlet on the larger of the two units.... and usually most liners for gas are a corrugated design which then causes a 20% reduction in flow.... they are probably going to have to remove the clay liners in the chimney... which is not fun.