Most stainless steel chimney lining systems on the market come with some sort of a lifetime warranty. A requirement to these warranties is to have the lining swept or inspected annually. When the chimney is relined the performance of the chimney should increase, but the appliance will still produce some sort of soot. The picture below is a look down a stainless steel lining that is venting an oil furnace, this lining obviously needs to be swept:
The next picture (below) was a poor quality stainless steel lining that I removed and replaced with a high quality lining system. This liner was improperly installed by a heating company and was never swept or inspected. Many homeowners assume that the heating contractor will sweep or inspect the chimney as part of their annual service. This is rarely, if ever, the case:
If it’s been more than a year since you have had an inspection of your stainless steel chimney liner, schedule one today.