Flue relining
Sweep & inspection
Caps & crowns
Masonry repair
Gas fireplace serviceLevel 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.
Olympia Chimney Flue Liner Replacement: The Houston Owner’s Guide
Flue liner replacement for Olympia Chimney systems in Houston typically runs between $2,400 and $4,800 installed, depending on liner material, flue height, and whether we need to break out the old clay tile first. We stock Olympia Chimney-compatible flexible stainless liners on our trucks and can usually complete the job in one visit once we’ve confirmed your existing system’s measurements. Most Houston homeowners discover the liner has failed during a routine sweep, when our camera shows hairline cracks running through the clay, or when they notice crumbling tile pieces collecting in the firebox.
Which Olympia Chimney Models This Applies To
Olympia Chimney builds the Ventis line of manufactured chimney systems, and the flue liner we’re talking about is the stainless inner wall inside those systems. If you have a Ventis, Ventis Plus, or Olympia air-insulated chimney, this page applies to you. Here’s the compatibility gotcha we run into in Houston: Olympia Chimney systems are not interchangeable with competitor components. You can’t slide a generic six-inch liner into a Ventis system and call it done. The inner diameter has to match the appliance’s listed flue requirement exactly, and the liner needs to lock into Olympia’s specific connection points. When the OEM listing says six inches, it means six inches internal diameter, not six and a quarter, not “close enough.”
For older Olympia chimney systems that used clay tile liners, the replacement path is different. We install a properly sized stainless liner that slides down the existing flue passage and gets insulated. We source our stainless liners from Olympia Chimney directly when the system calls for OEM, but we also carry DuraFlex, HeatShield, and Gelco products for systems where a quality aftermarket liner is the better fit. Nathan Corliss has a habit of checking the data plate on every Olympia system before ordering anything, because Houston’s humidity means older labels fade and the wrong size order wastes everyone’s week.
Styles & brands we work with





Signs Your Olympia Chimney Flue Liner Replacement Is Failing
- Crumbling tile in the firebox: Clay tile liners crack from repeated heating and cooling cycles. Houston’s heat and humidity accelerate this because the exterior masonry expands at a different rate than the clay inside.
- White staining on the exterior chimney brick: That’s efflorescence. Moisture is moving through the masonry, and a cracked liner is often why. The liner is no longer containing the moisture the way it should.
- A smell like a damp campfire coming from the fireplace: Creosote and moisture are mixing inside the flue. That smell usually means the liner’s interior is no longer smooth, so residue is sticking instead of venting out.
- Visible gaps or shifting in the clay tiles during an inspection: If you can see a tile offset by a quarter inch or more from the firebox or from the top of the chimney, the liner has failed structurally. That offset is a direct path for heat and gases into the chimney cavity.
- Rust stains running down the exterior chimney chase: On Ventis systems, rust on the outside usually means the stainless inner liner has corroded through and moisture is now trapped between the inner and outer walls.
See the difference
Before
After
Before
After
Before
AfterReplacement Cost & What’s Included
Here’s the honest pricing picture for Houston. A stainless steel flue liner replacement for a single-story home with a straight flue typically runs $2,400 to $3,200. Two-story homes, angled flues, or jobs requiring clay tile breakout push that to $3,800 to $4,800. Those numbers include the liner, insulation, top plate, rain cap, labor, and hauling away the old tile if we broke it out. Every Ashby Chimney Houston job gets a written price before we touch a tool. The number on your invoice matches the number we quoted at the door, and the Kingswell Guarantee covers the repair in writing. If that liner fails inside the guarantee period, we come back and fix it at no charge. That’s the 365-Day Done Right Promise, and it’s not an add-on.
DIY or Call Us?
What you can safely do yourself: look for crumbling tile in the firebox, check for rust stains on the exterior chase, and note any damp smells coming from the fireplace after rain. Those observations help us over the phone. What you should not do: attempt to remove a damaged clay tile liner or pull a stainless liner yourself. You’re working on a roof or inside a chimney chase, often with a tile system that’s ready to collapse under its own weight. A cracked liner that drops three feet will take out whatever is below it. If you’re seeing any of the signs above, call (903) 961-6496 and we’ll camera-inspect the flue so you can see exactly what’s going on. Tell you the price first, explain the work second, put it in writing third, that’s the whole system.
FAQs
A stainless flue liner in Houston typically lasts 15 to 25 years with annual sweeping, shorter if the chimney runs hot fires regularly or sits unused and damp for long stretches. Clay tile liners fail much sooner in our climate, often inside 10 to 15 years, because the temperature swings and humidity cycles crack the material. When we install a liner, we tell you the expected lifespan for your specific setup and write the guarantee to match.
Sometimes. If the cracking is isolated to a small section and the rest of the flue measures sound, we can use a HeatShield resurfacing product to restore the damaged area without a full replacement. But if the liner has separated, shifted, or the cracking runs through multiple tiles, a repair becomes a temporary patch. We’ll show you the camera footage either way so you’re making the call on evidence, not on our word alone. Call (903) 961-6496 and we’ll get the camera down your flue and give you the straight answer.
Most Olympia Chimney flue liner replacements in Houston finish in one business day. If we’re breaking out old clay tile first, that can push into a second day because the removal is slow, dusty work and we’re not going to rush it. We’ll give you a real arrival window before the job, not a four-hour spread, and the crew wears uniforms and passes background checks, so you know exactly who’s at your door.
We carry the most common Olympia Chimney-compatible liner diameters on our trucks. If you need a size or configuration we don’t have on hand, we order it directly and schedule the install within the week. We keep DuraFlex, HeatShield, and Gelco products in rotation as well, so when a non-Olympia liner is the smarter choice for your system, we’re not stuck waiting on a single supplier. Note that Ashby Chimney Houston is an independent chimney service provider and not affiliated with Olympia Chimney.
Written by Nathan Corliss, Owner, Ashby Chimney Houston at Ashby Chimney Houston, serving Houston and nearby areas.