Saw a landlord's DIY chimney job in Baltimore that made me cringe
I was up in Baltimore last month doing a routine sweep on a rowhouse, and the neighbor came over to ask if I could check his chimney too. Turns out he had done his own lining job with some flex pipe he bought at a hardware store. He used regular duct tape instead of high-temp sealant, and the liner was sagging so bad it was blocking the flue by almost 40 percent. I tried to explain that this setup could cause a chimney fire or carbon monoxide leak, but he said it had worked fine for two winters. I get that people want to save money, but this is the kind of thing that gives the trade a bad name. Has anyone else run into botched homeowner repairs that were just dangerous to look at?