franco b wrote:This is only true if you ignore labor costs. The disparity of cost is even greater for an inside chimney on the first or upper floor.buffalo bob wrote: right on
This is, more often than not, the practical realism that is necessary when this topic pops up from time to time. It's inarguable that masonry is the longest lived chimney. Keep it dry and a good quality SS should do you well.
Mine is the exact situation that franco b states, middle of the house on the first floor directly above a garage bay. My SS is entering, I don't know for sure, but it's at least its 13th and likely 14th unscathed season. Masonry would be wonderful if I installed a 30' long vertically laminated beam directly below the chimney block, not to mention that my wife** would have to accept looking at an obelisk in the room which would also push the stove out further out from the wall, eating up more floor space. I admit, I've installed the beam but there's not gonna be a coal heated doghouse** in my future
