Thanks for the responses guys, Yes, this is the picture. Nice to see that the owner of this awesome kitchen (nhbaskets) is still around and following the discussions as to whether or not I'll steal your crown idea ;-) I do all my own work, so there is no GC involved. I have already done all the room crown and have tried the chimney both with and without crown already. In fact, it's up now, just have not decided if I want to leave it. Yeah, it's a pain to attach, but not impossible. I can't decide which way I think looks better, so I was wondering if there was a standard way to do it. Also, with the crown you can not easily remove the chimney cover, should you ever have to. Now from what I'm hearing, the standard way seems to be to not wrap the crown around the chimney, but the reason seems to be based on how *difficult* it is rather than what actually looks best. Is there anyone else out there who has a crown-wrapped SS chimney? Any pictures?

Thank you for good feedback, I appreciate the different points of view (well, kinda different ;) and even an unequivocal statement with the word "NEVER" in it. I never see those anymore! Re: "I didn't think so." - But I *would* offer them hot tea...and mittens... Jokes aside, you have a good point re: time. I would actually be less concerned about the upper end of the estimate of time, but to have a basic idea of minimum time involved in accomplishing a job would be great to give the customer a clearer sense of *labor* involved, since from the customer perspective labor is really what they are paying for. I know, I know, you have everything from office assistant to gas to insurance on the overhead side of things, but we don't see that, and don't really care because it does not *directly* contribute to the solution of the repair problem, whereas people doing stuff on the roof does. So from the customer's point of view, shelling out $750 for 2 hours of work can strike a chord. Especially if the repair addressed only half of the issue, and did not address the water that was already collected under the torch down material, which continues to cause condensation.. Speaking of condensation - this is the major issue now, it seems. The contractor poked a small hole in the torch down material (bitumen?) and pressed on it gently, water came right out. I have no attic, there is 6 inches between roof and ceiling, filled with insulation (foam, I believe). My understanding is when you have a sealed space (now even more sealed!) with water already inside, it can't really dry - it will simply evaporate, and fall back out as condensate. Which is exactly what is causing the moisture buildup on the sheetrock under the insulation, and seeps through the paint and ruins the ceiling. Do you have any suggestions on how to tackle the 'internal' moisture issue? I am guessing opening the roof up from the top and trying to dry it out? or trying to get in from the inside, removing insulation and drying it out? There is only a small opening in the ceiling barely enough to stick shoulders through, though...highly inconvenient. Any advice much appreciated..I am obviously dealing with a roof issue for the first time.

ribidibi - My experience is that of a company trying to rip us off... My wife and I rebuilt the upper (from roof up) outer brick portion (not clay flue tiles) of our chimney. Hadn't had a fire in it for years. Asked a reputable company (Seattle/puget sound area) to come out an clean the chimney. They came out/cleaned; and gave us a report stating our chimney was toast; and a 'great deal' on having it relined with stainless steel... Got me to looking; research, etc. Found out a lot. One - a regular Joe can do this job themselves. 2. Had several other companies come on out, and give me bids for how much they would charge to line with Stainless. All THREE - stated my chimney was FINE; and did not need to be relined. Our house was built in 1950. Two of them (since we are getting ready to sell) told me that they would do a Write UP stating they had inspected our chimney; and it was FINE and SAFE - for FREE. All three of the companies stated it would be good if we had the tile brought up higher; and a crown put on... We did hire one of these companies to do that job. That company added clay tile; but did a lousy job (three times) putting in a new crown. They ended up hauling away the crown material they had done (it kept cracking within 24 hours of being done); and I poured the new existing crown. (Gee, no cracks.) sigh... Anyway, get several opinions. And Know that you can (if you truly need it) save yourself a ton of dollars - if you do this job yourself. A stainless liner does slightly reduce your draft. Usually nothing that you will notice. Flexible is easier to install than non flex. Here are a few links to places which provide how to info to general public; and will sell supplies to you... More info is readily available on the net. Good Luck. http://www.chimneylinerinc.com/liners_only_chimney.htm http://www.sleepyhollowchimneysupply.com/chimney_liner_superflex_304.htm http://www.chimney-liner-central.com/ http://www.chimneylinerexpress.com/ David PS: the one actual link is just one of the above. I guess you would have to 'copy/paste' the various suggested link texts into a browser.. I just did a quick search on +diy +liner +stainless +chimney Here is a link that might be useful: DIY Chimney Repair

Roser depending on where the hood is and what the material is it may look great. If you have any pictures of the area or if you need any tips feel free to drop me a line! Sincerely, James D. Van Raden Paragon Renovations and Development Moorhead, MN paragon_renovations1616@msn.com