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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AfterFamco Chimney Liner & Rebuild in Dix Hills: What to Know First
Famco chimney liner and rebuild work in Dix Hills typically runs between $850 and $4,200 depending on whether we’re relining one section or rebuilding the stack from the roofline up. Most Famco liner jobs are done in a single day, with a camera inspection and written report before anything gets torn out. We’re an independent Famco service provider, not a dealer, so we tell you when an aftermarket liner from DuraFlex or HeatShield will serve you better than an OEM replacement and when it won’t. This page is for Dix Hills homeowners who own Famco equipment and want straight answers about liner failure, rebuild scope, and real cost. Call Wendell Pike and his crew at (631) 318-8656 for a free estimate.
How Famco Products Fail - and How We Fix Them
Famco builds solid chimney components, but every brand has its weak points. Here’s what we see on Famco jobs across Dix Hills and the Half Hollow Hills area, and what we do about it.
- Famco stainless steel rigid liners: seam separation at the joints. The older Famco rigid sections used a lighter-gauge 316 alloy that expands and contracts with Dix Hills temperature swings. After 10 to 15 winters, those seams start to open. You’ll see a fine dark dust line on the firebox floor or hear a faint rattle on windy days. We pull the affected sections, inspect the full run with a camera, and replace with a heavier-gauge liner, usually DuraFlex Pro or HeatShield, sized to the existing Famco flue collar.
- Famco flexible liner kits: kinking at the smoke shelf offset. Famco flex liners were sold as DIY-friendly, and plenty of Dix Hills homes got one installed without proper offset guides. The flex kinks right where the flue turns, the draft drops, and the fireplace starts smoking back into the room. We fix this by pulling the entire run and installing a properly supported liner with a rigid top section through the offset. It’s a common job, and it solves the smoke problem completely.
- Famco clay flue tile sections: spalling from moisture and creosote acid. Older Famco flue systems were clay tile, not metal. Dix Hills winters dump rain and snow down an uncapped flue, and that moisture mixed with creosote turns acidic. We see clay tile spalling, pieces flaking off and piling at the base. Once a tile is spalling, the fire hazard is real. We go in with the camera, show you the footage, and if the tile is degrading, we reline the whole flue with a stainless system rather than patch a single broken tile.
- Famco chimney cap assemblies: rust-through at the base screen. Famco caps built for coastal air, but Dix Hills sits far enough inland that the real enemy is wet leaves and squirrel nests. The base screen on older Famco caps rusts through after a decade, and then you’ve got animals and debris in the flue. We replace the cap with a properly sized stainless unit from Famco, Olympia, or Copperfield, and we check the crown while we’re up there.
- Famco damper assemblies: warped blade leaking heated air. This shows up when the house gets cold in January and you can feel a draft in the living room even with the fire out. The Famco damper blade warps from years of heat, and it never seats fully. We replace the damper, and while we’re in the firebox, we check the full liner run above it. A warped damper often hides a liner problem you can’t see without the camera.
Our Famco Chimney Liner & Rebuild Process
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You call (631) 318-8656. A live person answers, day or night, and it may well be Wendell himself. We schedule a visit with a real arrival window, and we call if that window slips.
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We inspect first, always. Before any tear-out, the sweep runs a camera through the entire flue. You watch the footage with us. We explain exactly what we see in plain English. If the job doesn’t need doing, we tell you that too.
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Parts decision, made honestly. If the Famco component is sound, we keep it. If it’s beyond repair, we walk you through OEM versus quality aftermarket, warranty implications, and cost. No pressure. You decide.
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The repair or rebuild. Whether it’s a liner swap, partial rebuild, or full stack rebuild, the crew gets it done in a day for most liner jobs. We protect your floors, keep the work area clean, and don’t leave until the job passes our own checklist.
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Draft test and camera re-inspection. Once the liner or rebuild is in, we test the draft and run the camera again. You see the finished work before we call it done.
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We back it in writing. Every Famco job gets our 90-Day Done Right Promise. If something isn’t right, one call brings us back, no charge.
What Famco Chimney Liner & Rebuild Costs in Dix Hills
Straight numbers, the way we give them on the phone.
- Stainless steel liner replacement (single flue): $850-$2,100, depending on liner length and difficulty of the offset.
- Famco flex liner replacement: $675-$1,450, including old liner removal and proper support.
- Clay flue tile reline (full stainless system): $1,800-$3,200 for a typical two-story Dix Hills chimney.
- Partial rebuild (crown, top courses, flashing): $1,500-$2,800.
- Full chimney rebuild from roofline up: $3,500-$4,200, more if we’re rebuilding below the roof or doing masonry repair on the face.
What moves the price: roof pitch, chimney height, difficulty of access, whether the existing liner is reusable, and the condition of the masonry around it. We give you a fixed price before a single tool comes off the truck. The number you hear on the phone is the number on the invoice. Call (631) 318-8656 for a free estimate.
Why Dix Hills Homeowners Call Top Hat Chimney for Famco Work
Because Wendell answers the phone. Not a call center, not a dispatcher. If we say we’ll be there Tuesday between 9 and 11, we’re there, and we call if the schedule shifts. We’ve been working Dix Hills chimneys since 1999, and that means we’ve seen thousands of Famco flues in every condition. When a Famco liner is worth saving, we save it. When it isn’t, we show you the camera footage and you make the call. We also work with DuraFlex, HeatShield, and Gelco liners daily, so if a non-Famco liner serves you better, we tell you that plainly. Every job is backed by our 90-Day Done Right Promise in writing. We put Wendell’s name and license on the work, and he runs into you at the hardware store on Saturday.
FAQs
We’re an independent service provider, not a Famco dealer, so we don’t process Famco warranty claims directly. What we do is install repair and replacement work that doesn’t void your remaining Famco warranty, and we’ll tell you when using a quality aftermarket part makes more sense. If your warranty is still active, we help you document the work so you can file the claim yourself.
Most Famco liner replacements are done in a single day once we’ve seen the flue on camera. We typically schedule the inspection within a few days of your call, and the repair within a week or two. Call (631) 318-8656 and we’ll give you a straight answer on current scheduling.
If the liner is damaged in one spot and the masonry around it is sound, a sectional repair usually gets the job done. But if the masonry is spalling, the crown is cracked, and the liner has failed in multiple places, a rebuild is often less expensive in the long run than repeated repairs. We show you the camera footage and make our honest recommendation either way.
Yes. We service Famco systems with HeatShield, DuraFlex, and Gelco liners all the time. HeatShield is a ceramic coating applied over the existing flue, and it wears differently than stainless. We inspect it the same way, with the camera, and tell you if it’s still sound or needs replacement. Call (631) 318-8656 for a free estimate on any Famco inspection.
Written by Wendell Pike, Owner, Top Hat Chimney at Top Hat Chimney, serving Dix Hills and nearby areas.