Famco Flue Liner Replacement Nationwide

Famco Flue Liner Replacement: The Marietta Owner’s Guide

We stock and install Famco-compatible flue liner replacement in Marietta, with typical installed pricing running $1,800-$3,400 depending on liner diameter, height, and whether the existing liner is stainless or terracotta. Most Famco replacements we book in Cobb County are completed in a single day, and we carry common diameters from 5″ to 8″ on our trucks. Homeowners usually discover the problem during a routine sweep when our camera finds gaps between liner sections, or when they notice brown staining on the chimney breast after heavy rain - a sign water is getting past a compromised flue wall.

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Which Famco Models This Applies To

Famco flue liners were sold through HVAC and chimney supply houses from the early 1990s through roughly 2015, primarily as smooth-wall stainless flexible liners in 316L and 304 alloys. The identifying mark is a stamped Famco logo on the termination cap or a small tag crimped to the top collar; if the tag is missing, measure the inner diameter with a tape and note whether the wall is corrugated or smooth. We see the Famco 3000 series most often in Marietta’s 1960s-1980s ranch homes, particularly around East Cobb and the neighborhoods off Lower Roswell Road where original builders spec’d mid-grade liners that are now hitting thirty-year service life.

The OEM-versus-aftermarket question for Famco is straightforward: Famco exited the liner business years ago, so “OEM” now means NOS (new old stock) pulled from distributor warehouses, priced at a premium and with no factory warranty. We source our Famco-compatible replacements through Olympia Chimney and Copperfield’s certified equivalents - same 316L alloy, same .006″ minimum wall thickness, full manufacturer’s warranty. The compatibility gotcha is the collar style: early Famco used a snap-lock male end, while later production switched to a beaded connection. We match this on site before ordering, because forcing the wrong joint creates a gap that voids the warranty and risks creosote leakage into the chimney cavity.

Signs Your Famco Flue Liner Replacement Is Failing

• Flaking rust in the firebox or cleanout door. 304-grade Famco liners installed before 2005 are prone to salt-catalyzed corrosion, especially in Marietta homes within a few miles of the Georgia Power plant where atmospheric sulfur compounds accelerate oxidation. The rust you see started on the flue’s exterior surface where condensation collects.
• Smoke smell in upstairs rooms when the fireplace is not in use. This means the liner has separated at a joint or developed a pinhole, allowing flue gases to pressurize the chimney cavity and find paths through framing gaps. In older Marietta homes near Whitlock Avenue with balloon framing, this travels fast.
• White efflorescence on the exterior brick below the roofline. The liner is no longer containing moisture from combustion; vapor is migrating through the masonry and depositing salts. This is often misdiagnosed as a crown leak, but the root cause is liner breach.
• Deteriorating mortar joints in the firebox or smoke chamber. A failing liner allows acidic condensate to reach the masonry behind it. We see this paired with Famco liners that were never properly insulated, which is most of them installed before NFPA 211’s 2000 edition made liner insulation explicit.
• The sweep’s camera shows a “shiner” - light visible through the liner wall. This is a through-wall failure, not surface pitting. It means the liner’s structural integrity is gone; continued use risks liner collapse during a chimney fire or carbon monoxide migration into living spaces.

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Replacement Cost & What’s Included

What drives the range: liner diameter, total linear feet from appliance to cap, whether we need to remove a failed existing liner or slide the new one inside it, and the condition of the top plate and termination. Every quote we write in Marietta includes the liner, insulation, top plate, rain cap, labor, and disposal of the old material. Clause 1 of the Haven Standard requires that written price, written scope, and written warranty before anyone starts - not after the tech is in your living room. The 365-Day Done Right Promise covers the installation; the liner itself carries a lifetime warranty from Olympia Chimney or Copperfield when we source it.

DIY or Call Us?

There’s a safe middle ground and a hard stop. A homeowner can verify the liner diameter with a flashlight and tape measure from the firebox, check the termination cap for visible corrosion from the roof edge (don’t climb), and photograph any rust debris for us to review. What you cannot safely do: pull a liner from a two-story chimney without proper rigging, cut a new top plate to fit without knowing clearances to combustibles, or evaluate whether the smoke chamber needs parging. The old liner is often wedged with creosote deposits that make extraction unpredictable; we’ve seen sections bind and drop suddenly. Corrine Halstead’s rule from her Apex Technical School days still stands: camera first, quote second, work third - in that order, every time. Call (470) 288-2763 and we’ll run the camera before we write anything.

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