Chimney Liner Installation in San Pedro, CA

Why San Pedro flues need relining

Clay tile is rigid and mortared in short sections. Seismic movement shifts those joints. Pre-1950 bungalows and Spanish revival homes around here often show hairline offsets in the tile, sometimes a full spall at a joint. Then wet-winter rain finds the gap through a cracked crown or a missing cap. Salt air rusts out the chase cover above it. The flue stops being a sealed passage.

Relining means running a listed stainless liner top to bottom. Old tile sometimes has to come out with a breaker chain first. Narrow flues take an ovalized liner. Insulation wrap or a poured mix matters, because the clearance-to-combustibles listing depends on it. Offsets at the smoke chamber decide whether flex or rigid gets used.

One distinction competitors skip: factory-built fireboxes in 1970s-2000s tract homes, condos and townhomes vent through a listed double or triple-wall metal chimney. A flex liner is not the code repair there. You replace matching pipe sections from that manufacturer.

Gas is different again. Sealed direct-vent inserts carry their own coaxial vent. Unpermitted gas log conversions into an old wood flue are the ones we find oversized and cold.

Check your cleanout for tile chips. If brick above the roofline is loose, rebuild before relining.