Famco Flue Liner Replacement Nationwide

Famco Flue Liner Replacement: The San Francisco Owner’s Guide

A Famco flue liner replacement in San Francisco typically runs $1,850 to $3,400 installed, including the liner, connectors, insulation where required, and labor. We keep Famco-compatible liner kits and components on our trucks, and in most San Francisco neighborhoods we can complete the swap in a single visit. You’ll know the liner has failed when you see flakes of metal in the firebox, smell smoke in rooms nowhere near the fireplace, or your sweep flags corrosion during a routine cleaning.

Call (831) 534-3789

Famco has been making venting and chimney components in the U.S. since 1932, and their rigid stainless liners show up often in older Bay Area homes. What brings people to this page is usually a specific discovery: a home inspector’s report before a sale, a chimney camera showing a separated seam, or the flaky, rusted pieces dropping into the firebox. If you’re holding a piece of your old liner in your hand, you already know what we’re talking about. Ruben Castellano grew up in East Los Angeles and has spent close to two decades working on California chimneys, and he’ll tell you the same thing he tells every San Francisco homeowner: the liner is the boundary between fire and house. When it goes, it doesn’t announce itself politely.

One thing worth stating plainly, because it matters: Alcott Chimney San Francisco is an independent local service provider. We are not affiliated with Famco, but we install and service their products every week, and we carry their liner components alongside DuraFlex, HeatShield, and Gelco materials.

Quick Takeaways

• Installed Famco flue liner replacement in San Francisco: $1,850 to $3,400
• We stock Famco-compatible rigid and flex liner kits on the truck
• Written price before any work starts, every time
• 365-Day Done Right Promise: if a repair fails, the second visit is free
• Camera inspection included so you see exactly what we’re replacing

Which Famco Models This Applies To

The Famco liners we replace most often in San Francisco are the 4-inch, 5-inch, and 6-inch diameter rigid stainless models found in masonry fireplaces and older freestanding wood stoves. Some are the double-wall type with a ceramic insulation wrap, and some are single-wall. The difference matters for clearance, not for cosmetics. A double-wall liner replaced with a single-wall without accounting for clearances is how fires start.

Here’s the compatibility gotcha we deal with regularly: Famco has manufactured venting under several part series over the decades, and a liner section from a 1980s-era installation may not twist-lock to a modern replacement section, even if both are the same diameter. We don’t guess at this. We measure the existing liner with a caliper on site, confirm the wall thickness, and match the connector type before we quote a replacement. If your venting is ovalized or has been through a chimney fire, we’ll tell you that the whole run needs replacing, not just the rusted section.

For homeowner-identifiable details: the metal label on the visible portion of your liner or connector may still legibly read “Famco” with a model designation. If it’s gone, as it often is after years of heat and moisture, the diameter and wall construction are what we’ll use to find an exact equivalent. We’re comfortable installing OEM Famco components or quality equivalents from the trade brands we carry, and we’ll lay out the price difference for you before you decide.

Signs Your Famco Flue Liner Replacement Is Failing

• Silver flakes or rust-colored pieces in the firebox. Liner steel delaminates as it corrodes, and gravity does the rest. This is usually the final stage, not a warning sign.
• Smoke smell in upstairs rooms or the attic with no fire going. A breach in the liner lets exhaust move through the chimney chase into living spaces instead of up and out.
• Draft problems that come and go, even with a clean flue. Separated seams or sagging sections interrupt the draft column the chimney depends on.
• Visible rust staining on the exterior chimney chase or water damage near the flue. San Francisco’s fog and winter rain find their way in through degraded liner walls, and condensation accelerates corrosion from inside.
• A recent chimney sweep flagged “liner deterioration” or showed you camera footage with holes or gaps. You did the right thing getting the sweep done. That’s how most San Francisco homeowners learn they need this part.

Replacement Cost & What’s Included

A Famco flue liner replacement in San Francisco typically lands between $1,850 and $3,400 installed. The lower end covers a shorter single-story run of single-wall liner with good existing access. The higher end includes multi-story homes, double-wall insulated liner, or runs where we have to remove and reset sections of the firebox or chase cover to reach the full length.

Every quote includes the liner material, connectors, insulation if specified, the labor for removal and installation, and a camera inspection before and after so you can see the condition of the flue and the finished work. There are no surprise charges at the end. You’ll get a written price before we start, and the work carries our written guarantee. If the repair fails within the coverage period, the second visit is free. That’s the 365-Day Done Right Promise, and it’s been part of every job we’ve done since 2002.

What drives the range more than anything in San Francisco is access. A Pacific Heights three-story with a tight roof chase is a different job than a Sunset District bungalow where the liner pulls straight up through a single-story chase. We’d rather quote high and finish under than quote low and surprise you.

DIY or Call Us?

You can safely check a few things: look in the firebox for metallic debris, note any unusual smell, and take a flashlight up the flue from below if you have a clean-line view. What you should not do is attempt to pull, patch, or replace a flue liner yourself. A compromised liner means combustion gases are moving through spaces they weren’t designed for, and on a San Francisco hillside home, that can mean carbon monoxide moving into rooms you can’t see from the roof.

Working on a chimney from a ladder, handling corroded metal that breaks as you grip it, and resecuring a liner connection that may be the only barrier between fire and framing – these are jobs for a trained professional. If you suspect your Famco liner is failing, call us at (831) 534-3789. We’ll get eyes on it and tell you straight what it needs.

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