Quick answer: A prefabricated metal Class A chimney costs $100 to $150 per foot installed, against $150 to $200 per foot for masonry. Fit it yourself and the labor line disappears: that is $300 to $1,800 on a standard wood stove install, so most DIY buyers pay parts only. A 6 inch by 36 inch insulated Class A section is $187 and a complete liner kit starts at $559.
Key Takeaways
- Your bill has three lines: parts, labor and permit. Doing the work yourself removes the middle one entirely, and it is usually the biggest single saving available to you.
- Parts are a fixed, listed figure you can total today. Labor is a local quote, and it swings more by region than by anything else.
- A metal Class A system costs far less than building masonry, because it needs no footing, no wet trade and no bricklayer.
- You do not lose warranty cover by fitting it yourself. Our warranty asks that the system is installed to the supplied instructions, whether the owner or a contractor does the work.
- Height, route and diameter set your parts count, so work out the required height before you total anything.
What Does It Actually Cost to Install a Chimney?
Most people pricing a chimney start with a contractor quote and wince. The more useful question is which of the three cost lines you are actually buying.
Parts. Priced per component and per length on our US store, so the total depends on how tall your flue is and how it leaves the building. You can add this up yourself in a few minutes.
Labor. A local quote, not a national number. This is the line a capable owner can remove.
Permit and inspection. Modest next to the other two, but rarely optional.
What the Parts Cost
These are live prices from our US listings, checked on 11 August 2026. Prices on the product pages are always the current ones.
| Component | Price |
|---|---|
| 6" x 18" Class A insulated chimney pipe | $114.00 |
| 6" x 24" Class A insulated chimney pipe | $145.00 |
| 6" x 36" Class A insulated chimney pipe | $187.00 |
| 6" x 48" Class A insulated chimney pipe | $254.00 |
| Stove pipe adapter to Class A pipe | $78.00 |
| Complete chimney kit, straight up through the roof | $547.00 |
| Complete chimney kit through the house | $550.00 |
| 316Ti stainless chimney liner kit, from | $559.00 |
Class A insulated pipe is stocked in 6in and 8in, single wall stove pipe in 6in and 8in, double wall connector pipe in 6in, and flexible liners in 4in, 5in, 5.5in and 6in. Match the diameter to your stove's flue collar, never to the biggest pipe you can find. Oversizing cools the flue gases and hurts the draft.
Shop complete wood stove chimney kits
What Does Labor Cost?
We do not fit chimneys, so these are published third-party figures rather than our own rates. They are the useful ones because they show you the shape of the decision. Sources and year are named so you can weigh them yourself.
| Labor line | Typical 2026 range | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Wood stove and flue install, labor only | $300 to $1,800 | Fire Pit Surplus, 2026 |
| Certified installer hourly rate, rural | $60 to $80 | Fire Pit Surplus, 2026 |
| Certified installer hourly rate, metro | $100 to $150 | Fire Pit Surplus, 2026 |
| Permit and inspection | $50 to $500 | Fire Pit Surplus, 2026 |
| Prefab metal chimney, fully installed | $100 to $150 per foot | Fixr and HomeGuide, 2026 |
| Masonry chimney, fully installed | $150 to $200 per foot | Fixr, 2026 |
| Masonry labor alone | $80 to $95 per foot | Fixr, 2026 |
Labor Varies More by Region Than by Job
Two homeowners buying the same stove and the same pipe can be quoted a thousand dollars apart on labor alone, purely on where they live.
| Region | Labor | Permit |
|---|---|---|
| Northeast (MA, NY, CT, NJ) | $900 to $1,800 | $150 to $500 |
| Southeast (GA, FL, TN, NC) | $400 to $800 | $50 to $200 |
| Midwest (OH, IN, IL, MI) | $500 to $900 | $75 to $250 |
| Mountain West (CO, UT, MT) | $500 to $1,000 | $75 to $300 |
Source: Fire Pit Surplus, 2026 regional breakdown. Get a local quote before you commit, because the national number will not be your number.
Can You Install a Chimney Yourself?
Yes. A capable owner can complete a standard metal Class A install, and most of our buyers do exactly that. The sections twist-lock, the openings are cut to a marked template, and the tools are ones you likely own already: a cordless driver, a tape measure, a level and a step ladder.
Two honest caveats. You need to be safe on a roof, and a run with multiple offsets, a very steep pitch or an unusual height is a job worth paying for.
What is not a caveat: your warranty. Our limited lifetime warranty asks that the system is installed according to the supplied instructions, whether the work is carried out by the owner or by a contractor. Fitting it yourself does not reduce your cover. What voids it is using the system outside its intended purpose or ignoring the installation instructions. The full terms are on our warranty page.
Metal Class A System vs Building Masonry
A metal system costs far less than building a masonry chimney, and it is not a close comparison.
| Factor | Metal Class A system | Masonry chimney |
|---|---|---|
| Typical installed cost | $100 to $150 per foot | $150 to $200 per foot |
| Structural work | Support box or wall bracket only | Footing and load path required |
| Site time | One to two days on a standard route | Weeks, weather dependent |
| Owner installable | Yes, on a standard install | No |
| Later relining | Not needed, the liner is the pipe | Often needed, from $559 for a kit |
Masonry means excavation and a footing, block or brick, a flue liner, mortar, scaffolding and a bricklayer on site for days. An insulated metal system arrives as a boxed set of matched sections that lock together. There is no wet trade, no cure time and no structural footing.
What Drives Your Total
- Route through the house. Straight up through the ceiling, attic and roof uses fewer components than an exterior run up an outside wall.
- Total height. Every extra foot is another insulated length plus its bracing. This is set by code, not by preference.
- Diameter. 8in components cost more than the same lengths in 6in. Match the stove, do not upsize.
- Storeys and offsets. More floors and any change of direction add support and firestop components.
- Who does the labor. The largest single variable in the whole project.
If there is no existing chimney at all, a full vertical Class A run from the stove to above the roofline adds roughly $800 to $2,500 to a professionally fitted project, according to 2026 industry figures. It is the most common reason a job runs over budget.
How Do You Work Out Chimney Height?
Height is set by the roof, not by preference, and it changes your parts count directly, so settle it before you total anything. Our chimney height guide carries the national height rule in full along with the measuring method for pitched and flat roofs. Get the height right first, then count sections. A guess one length short is the most common ordering mistake we see.
Do You Need a Permit?
Usually yes. Most US jurisdictions treat a new solid fuel appliance and its flue as permitted work, with an inspection at completion, and requirements are set locally rather than nationally. Call your building department before you cut a hole. Some regions add air quality rules on top of the building permit, so check both. A passed inspection is what your insurer will ask about after a chimney fire.
What If You Already Have a Masonry Chimney?
Then relining is usually the lower cost route, and it is a different project with different numbers. A professional reline commonly runs around $2,500 and can reach $7,000 on a difficult access job. A DIY kit is a fraction of that: our 316Ti stainless liner kits start at $559 with free shipping, and professional installation on top of a kit typically adds $800 to $1,500 in labor.
Relining only makes sense if the masonry itself is sound. Check for cracked or missing mortar joints, spalling brick at the crown, water staining inside the chimney breast, and old creosote glazing. If the structure is failing, a new metal system is often the more sensible spend.
Shop 316Ti stainless steel chimney liner kits or read our detailed chimney liner cost breakdown.
What Does It Cost to Run, After the Install?
Budget for a sweep and an inspection at least once a heating season, and again after any chimney fire or a change of appliance. Sweeping frequency depends on how much you burn and how dry your wood is, since wet wood lays down creosote fast. We do not publish third-party sweeping rates because they vary by region and by chimney access, so get a local quote from a certified sweep.
A metal Class A system has one long term advantage worth naming: there is no masonry to repoint, no crown to repair and no liner to retrofit later.
What Materials Should You Buy?
For a new wood stove flue, insulated twin wall stainless Class A pipe is the standard choice, rated to 1000°F (538°C) continuous use. Our Class A pipe uses 304 stainless on both the inner and the outer wall. For relining an existing masonry chimney, a flexible 316Ti stainless liner kit is the normal solution. Aluminum has no place on a wood burning appliance.
Everything in our range comes from one curated product line, so every section, tee, support and adapter is designed to mate with the next one. You are not stitching three brands together and hoping the seams match, which is where the quiet extra cost sits: buying twice.
Get Your System Priced Exactly
Send us your stove model, ceiling height and exit route and we will design the flue at no charge, so you order the right components once. You get a matched component list with real prices instead of a guess, a specialist on the phone, 14 day no questions asked returns, and shipping from the nearest US warehouse. Small orders often go out next day; larger shipments take up to 5 business days.
Call 888-834-0880 or email contact@flue-pipes.com.
