Level 1 sweep and inspection to the NFPA 211 annual standard - flue, crown, cap, and flashing checked and photographed
Chimney sweep logs do not sweep chimneys. They loosen some creosote - which then falls where a brush and vacuum still have to collect it.
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AfterTrusted Chimney Liner & Rebuild for Northampton Homeowners
A chimney liner that’s cracked, rusted through, or missing altogether isn’t a small problem you can put off until next fall. It’s the only thing standing between the fire in your firebox and the wood framing inside your walls. In Northampton, we see this every winter: a homeowner lights a fire, the flue gets hot, and gases that should go up the chimney find their way into the house instead. Top Hat Chimney has been handling Chimney Liner & Rebuild - Northampton since 1999, and Wendell Pike still shows up to look at the job himself. Call (484) 859-1367 and you’ll get a live person, a straight answer, and a price before any work begins.
Key Takeaways:
- A damaged liner is a fire and carbon monoxide risk, not a cosmetic issue.
- Most liner replacements in Northampton are done in a single day.
- Every job comes with our 90-Day Done Right Promise in writing.
- We show you the camera footage so you can see the problem yourself.
What Our Chimney Liner & Rebuild Service Includes
Chimney liner and rebuild work covers a lot of ground, from a simple stainless steel insert to tearing down and rebuilding the top ten feet of a masonry chimney. Here’s what each piece looks like in Northampton homes, and what we actually do when we find one of these problems.
Stainless Steel Liner
A stainless steel liner is the standard fix when a clay tile flue has cracked or separated and the chimney structure itself is still sound. You need one when the existing liner no longer contains heat and combustion gases, which happens in older Northampton homes where the clay tiles have gone through decades of freeze-thaw cycles. We install DuraFlex and Olympia Chimney stainless liners, sized to your appliance and insulated where code requires it. The result is a flue that’s stronger than the original clay and rated for the temperatures your wood stove or furnace actually produces.
Flexible Liner
A flexible liner is a stainless steel tube that can be pulled through an existing flue with bends, offsets, or a brick stack that’s shifted slightly out of plumb. It saves you from knocking out walls when a rigid liner won’t make the turns. Wendell has pulled hundreds of these through old Northampton flues, including some that other sweeps walked away from. We snake it down, connect it properly at the appliance and the top, and seal it so it drafts the way the manufacturer intended.
Liner Replacement
Liner replacement means pulling out the old liner, whether it’s a rusted steel tube or a broken clay tile flue, and putting in something built for the way you actually use the chimney. The old liner comes out piece by piece or in sections, depending on what’s up there. Then we inspect the surrounding masonry before anything new goes in. In Northampton, we commonly replace liners that failed because an older furnace was vented through a flue that wasn’t sized right, or because years of water intrusion rotted the metal from the top down.
Partial Rebuild
A partial rebuild addresses the worst portion of the chimney, usually the top courses above the roofline where weather hits hardest. Freeze-thaw cycles in the Lehigh Valley spall bricks and wash out mortar joints until the cap leaks and the top of the chimney starts leaning. We tear down to solid structure, rebuild the courses with new brick and mortar matched as close as we can get to what’s already there, and pour a proper crown with a drip edge. If the flue is damaged in that section, the liner gets addressed at the same time.
Full Chimney Rebuild
A full rebuild starts when the chimney has failed structurally: leaning stacks, bricks that crumble when you touch them, or a flue that’s separated in multiple places so no liner would ever draft right. We take it down to the roofline or below, set up a proper base, and rebuild it with new brick, new tile or a stainless liner, a new crown, and a cap. It’s the biggest job we do, and Wendell personally walks every Northampton rebuild before a single brick gets set. These jobs take longer and cost more, but a chimney rebuilt properly will be there for the next owner of the house too.
Liner Repair
Liner repair means fixing a liner that’s mostly intact but has a specific problem: a rusted section, a crack in one clay tile, a joint that’s separated, or a hole from an old screw or a prior installation. In some cases we can apply HeatShield Cerfractory sealant to restore the flue’s integrity without replacing the whole liner. We’ll only recommend repair when the camera inspection shows the rest of the flue is sound; if it’s not, we’ll tell you plainly that replacement is the right call.
What happens when you call
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A real person answersNo phone trees - you reach a local pro.
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You get an upfront price rangeHonest numbers before anyone is dispatched.
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A background-checked tech heads outLicensed & insured, dispatched right away.
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You approve before work beginsNothing starts until you say go.
Brands We Service for Chimney Liner & Rebuild
We install and service DuraFlex liners more than any other brand in Northampton, and for good reason. DuraFlex makes a 316Ti alloy liner that holds up to the acidic condensate produced by modern gas and oil appliances, and we’ve been pulling their product through flues for over two decades. When a liner fails early, nine times out of ten it’s an installation problem, not a manufacturing problem. Wendell and his crew know how to size, insulate, and terminate a DuraFlex system so it drafts right and lasts.
If your existing liner is a HeatShield or Gelco system, we can inspect it, repair it, or replace it. HeatShield’s Cerfractory material works well in the right application, and Wendell is trained on when that application applies and when it doesn’t. Gelco liners and caps show up on plenty of Northampton chimneys from past installs, and we know how to work around them. Whether you have one of those brands or any other make that’s failed, the camera will tell us what we’re dealing with, and the fix gets priced before any work is scheduled.
Signs You Need Chimney Liner & Rebuild Right Now
- You can smell the last fire days after it went out. A healthy flue moves smoke up and out. When a liner is cracked or blocked, smoke and creosote odor drift back into the living room. In Northampton homes with tight windows in winter, the smell hangs around for days.
- There’s a smoky haze in the room while the fire is burning. That means the draft has reversed or the flue isn’t containing the exhaust. Even a small backdraft puts carbon monoxide into your living space. This is not a “let’s see if it gets better” situation.
- You find thin, shiny flakes at the bottom of the chimney. Those are pieces of creosote glaze shedding off the flue walls. It’s a sign of a hot, fast-burning fire and a liner that isn’t insulated or sized right. In Northampton, we see this most often in chimneys built in the 1960s and 70s.
- The chimney has been unlined for years and you want to burn wood again. Homes built before 1940 often have bare brick flues that were never lined. Brick and mortar were never meant to contain the heat and acids a wood fire produces. If you’ve started using the fireplace more as you’ve gotten older, the liner should be done before the fire season kicks in.
- Water is making its way down the chimney after heavy rain. A cracked crown or a missing liner lets rain run down the inside of the flue, rusting the damper and staining the firebox. In the Lehigh Valley, fall and winter storms expose this fast. Water is how chimneys die, and it’s cheaper to catch it early than to rebuild later.
Our Chimney Liner & Rebuild Process - Step by Step
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Camera inspection. Wendell runs a camera up your flue and records the whole thing. You’re welcome to watch over his shoulder or wait for the plain-English version after. You’ll see exactly what he sees: cracks, gaps, rust, missing mortar, or a flue that’s still in good shape with nothing more than a brush needed.
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Honest verdict. If the liner is safe and the chimney is doing its job, he’ll tell you that and you’ll pay for the inspection, not a replacement you don’t need. If work is needed, you get a written price with no surprise line items. The number he gives you on the phone before the appointment is the same number on the invoice after.
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Prep and setup. On job day, the crew arrives in uniform, with drop cloths laid from the door to the fireplace. The roof work gets done with proper safety gear and pads under ladders. We treat your house the way we’d treat our own.
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The work itself. The old liner comes out, the flue gets prepped, and the new liner goes in. For partial and full rebuilds, we go brick by brick, re-laying courses, grouting, and crowning so water runs off instead of in. Wendell is on site for every rebuild in Northampton, not just sending a crew.
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Post-job camera and cleanup. We run the camera again to show you the finished product, then we clean the work area top to bottom. You sign off, and your 90-Day Done Right Promise is in writing. If something’s not right in the next three months, one call gets us back at no charge.
How Much Does Chimney Liner & Rebuild Cost in Northampton?
If you’re wondering how much Chimney Liner & Rebuild costs, a stainless steel liner replacement in Northampton typically runs $1,800-$3,200, depending on the height of the chimney, the liner diameter, and whether insulation is required. A partial rebuild of the top courses runs $1,500-$3,500 on average. A full chimney rebuild from the roofline up usually lands between $6,000-$12,000 in this area, and that number shifts based on access, brick matching, and whether the flue needs to be relined at the same time. Liner repair with a product like HeatShield generally costs less than a full replacement, typically $800-$1,800, but we’ll only quote it when the camera shows the rest of the flue is worth saving.
What moves the price is access. A chimney in the middle of a steep roof in Northampton’s older hillside neighborhoods costs more to work on than a chimney with a straight run and easy roof pitch. Liner diameter matters too: bigger flues for open fireplaces cost more than a small liner for a stove insert. The most important thing to understand is that you’ll get a flat-price quote before the work begins. We don’t bill by the hour and we don’t come back later with an “adjustment.” And right now, any repair over $200 gets $40 off, and seniors and veterans always get 10% off. Call (484) 859-1367 and Wendell will give you a real number, not a range with fine print.
Chimney Liner & Rebuild Near Northampton - Our Service Area
Top Hat Chimney works throughout the Lehigh Valley and the surrounding townships, including Chimney Liner & Rebuild in Allen, Catasauqua, Coplay, Hokendauqua, Bath, Slatington, Schnecksville, Palmerton, and East Allen. If you’re inside the county, there’s no trip charge for us to come out, take a look, and give you a written estimate. We know these chimneys because we’ve been inside them for years. You can also read more about our Chimney Liner & Rebuild in Catasauqua coverage. And if you want to start from the beginning, that’s fine too: our home page has the full picture of what we do and where we do it.
Serving Northampton, PA - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Northampton area and know this community well. Use the map below to see our service coverage - if you’re nearby, we can almost certainly help.
Frequently Asked Questions - Chimney Liner & Rebuild in Northampton
Chimney liner and rebuild service covers repairing or replacing the flue liner inside your chimney and rebuilding any portion of the masonry structure that’s failed. In Northampton, this usually means installing a stainless steel liner when the old clay tiles crack, or tearing down and rebuilding the top of the chimney after freeze-thaw damage. We also offer our Chimney Liner & Rebuild in Catasauqua and surrounding communities. The goal is a chimney that contains heat and gas properly and sheds water instead of absorbing it.
A standard stainless steel liner replacement in Northampton is usually done in a single day. A partial rebuild takes one to two days depending on weather and access. A full rebuild can take three to five days, plus time for mortar to cure before you light a fire. Wendell gives you a realistic timeline at the estimate, and if weather pushes the job, he calls you before you call him.
Liner replacement typically runs $1,800-$3,200, partial rebuilds $1,500-$3,500, and full rebuilds $6,000-$12,000 in the Northampton area. We also provide Chimney Liner & Rebuild - Coplay with the same flat-rate pricing. Access, liner size, and the condition of the surrounding masonry all move the number. You’ll get a flat price in writing before work starts, and any repair over $200 is $40 off right now. Call (484) 859-1367 and we’ll put a real number on your chimney.
Yes. Top Hat Chimney installs and services DuraFlex stainless steel liners and HeatShield Cerfractory repair systems, along with Gelco and Olympia Chimney products. Wendell has worked with these brands for years and knows their install requirements and failure points. Bring us whatever you have, we’ll give you the camera footage and a straight answer on whether it’s worth fixing.
Call (484) 859-1367. The phone is answered by a live person around the clock, and that person may well be Wendell himself. If you have an active backdraft issue, visible smoke inside the house, or water pouring down through the firebox, we’ll get out to you as fast as the schedule allows and get it diagnosed. No call center, no voicemail box.
Every job is backed by our 90-Day Done Right Promise. If the work isn’t right in that window, one call gets Wendell and his crew back at no additional cost. Manufacturer warranties on the liner materials run longer and get registered in your name. The promise is in writing on every invoice in Northampton.
Clear the area around the fireplace so the crew has room to work, and move anything fragile off the mantel. If you have a wood stove, let the fire go cold the night before. We handle drop cloths, ladders, and roof protection, and we clean up before we leave. There’s nothing else you need to do except be there for the verdict.
Schedule Your Chimney Liner & Rebuild Service in Northampton Today
If your chimney has been telling you something’s wrong, don’t wait until the temperature drops and every sweep in Northampton is booked for six weeks. Call (484) 859-1367 now and Wendell will come out, run the camera, and tell you exactly what you need, or don’t need. The estimate is free, there’s no trip charge inside the county, and the price on the quote is the price on the invoice. Top Hat Chimney has been doing this since 1999, and we’ll be here for the next 29 years too.
Written by Wendell Pike, Owner at Top Hat Chimney, serving Northampton and the Lehigh Valley since 1999.