FuranFlex or Stainless Steel: Which Chimney Liner Is Right for You?

Both reline a masonry chimney without tearing it apart, and 406Chimney installs both. The appliance at the bottom of the flue usually decides which one goes in. The shape of the flue and the bends in it decide the rest.

SIDE BY SIDE

	FuranFlex composite	Stainless steel
How it goes in	Soft liner, cured hard in place	Rigid or flexible pipe fed down the flue
Demolition	None	None
Time on site	One day, in most cases	One day, in most cases
Flue size	Retains nearly the full flue area	Reduced to the pipe size
Offsets and bends	Follows them	Limited
Warranty	25 years	Manufacturer warranty
Where we use it	Gas and oil fired boilers and furnaces; commercial stacks	Wood-burning fireplaces and stoves

FOR A WOOD FIRE: STAINLESS STEEL

A wood fire runs far hotter than gas, and a wood-burning flue has to tolerate the temperatures of a chimney fire. A stainless steel liner is built for exactly that: it is listed for solid fuel, it installs in a day, and it comes with a long manufacturer warranty. Insulated properly, it also drafts better than the tile it replaces, which means less smoke, less creosote and a cleaner burn.

FOR GAS AND OIL: FURANFLEX

FuranFlex FF1 goes in soft, then steam inflates and cures it until it sets hard as one seamless piece. There are no joints anywhere in the run, so there is no seam for acid condensate to work on. That matters for gas and oil appliances, whose flue gases are wet and acidic.

UL 1777 — Listed for venting Category I gas and oil fired appliances.

WHEN THE CHIMNEY HAS BENDS

Many chimneys jog around a beam or a roof line on the way up. A rigid steel liner either cannot follow that offset or needs demolition to get past it. FuranFlex follows offsets, bends and twists, which is the reason the product exists.

WHEN DIAMETER MATTERS

Most older flues are square or rectangular tile. A round steel pipe dropped inside one gives up the corners, and some appliances cannot spare that area. FuranFlex cures against the tile with a wall a couple of millimetres thick, so it retains nearly the full flue area.

HOW WE DECIDE

We make the call at the assessment, not from a brochure. We inspect the flue with a camera, measure it and photograph what we find. You get a written recommendation and a firm price for the liner that fits your chimney and your appliance. After the assessment is complete, you will be provided a multi-page industry standard report.

BOOK A RELINING ASSESSMENT

Call or text (406) 629-2936. Serving Bozeman, Belgrade, Big Sky and the Greater Gallatin Valley. Read more about FuranFlex and stainless steel liners.