I am having an issue with an old masonary chimney. The only thing venting into it is my 50 gallon water heater that is only 3 years old. One option I have to avoid repair of the chimney is to have the chimney knocked down below my roof line and fix the decking and shingles of the roof.

Of course that would mean I need a power vent or a tankless and vent out the side of the house instead. -

As far as cost installed, I am assuming tankless is more expensive? In my area a standard 50 gallon heater costs about 1000.00 to have a plumber install... they will quote that over the phone all around town... unfortunetly for power vent they all want to do estimates.

Is there a reason I should explore other options to keep the chimney ie... stay with a standard vent? Now I would be depending on electricity for water heating which also is concerning.



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If possible I would run a liner down your chimney they are fairly inexpensive.

Have you had a chimney sweep look at it? Is the flue pipe shot? If it's just repairing above the roofline, you might be OK, price-wise. Mine was in pretty tough shape. They put 2 guys with grinders on it, and basically took most of the mortar out. They repaired the loose brick, repointed the chimney, and sealed it.They put a stainless liner in the boiler flue, cleaned the fireplace flue, and put a stainless cap on the chimney. This was no handyman outfit. They are a good sized outfit in my area. This was about 7 or 8 yrs ago, but it was about that number you threw out there. Oh, and he had his guys take an old CB antenna off the side of the house that was there when I bought the place. He asked about it, and I told him I needed to take it off. So he had his guys take it off.

A previous owner took it upon himself to install a decorative veneer covering to the old chimney but didnt flash it properly before adhearing the stone with concrete. So the chimney needs to be completely reflashed. In order to do so properly a portion of that covering must be removed so its involved and is not a standard reflashing job.

I don't know the condition of the chimney under this veneer façade that is hiding it. In addition to that, I likely have damaged roof decking and I can see plenty of signs of water on the wood surrounding it i the attic. Leaking has been an issue for me in the short time I have been there and by the looks of the wood surround the chimney chase, its been a issue for a long time before me. The bids I have gotten are in the 1500.00 range for just reflashing!! I have not fully considered what I might have to do to it in the future even if its flashed properly. I am sure other issues will arise with the deteriorating brick in the attic which I soon avoid.

To have it knocked down and roof decking fixed and reshingled I am looking at about 800-1000 bucks. It will cost me another 100 bucks to for the material to run a circuit for a water heater. And of course the cost of the water heater itself.

Another option to explore is dropping the chimney and having a b-vent installed instead and use my current water heater. However, the power vent again seems less involved??

I have the luxury to explore the power vent w/h option since my furnace is already a condensing furnace and I wouldn't have to consider my HVAC venting.

I would appreciate any opinions.

Monetarily... it looks like about 1000-2000 to reflash and repair. Or depending on the cost of the water heater, about 2500-3000 to knock it down and go power vent (or tankless).

Im not familiar with electricity driven water heating though.



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Generally, what are the venting requirements for a power vent?

Can they go out of a basement via a sill plate and vent horizontally?

since you need to remove the chimney above the roof anyway just use the interior part and extend the heater vent stainless steel through the roof

IMO: gravity vent is superior (simpler and less to go wrong) than power vent

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