Masonry

I learned the hard way that a “chimney liner” quote is basically a personality test.

Some contractors treat it like: drop a tube, collect money, bye.

Other people show up with a camera, talk about draft, mention fire clearances, point at your roofline like it personally offended them, and then you realize you’re not buying a tube — you’re buying a system that’s supposed to safely contain high heat + corrosive exhaust + creosote inside a structure made of old brick you haven’t looked at since you bought the house.

I have a note on my phone called “PATIO (CONCRETE?)” and it’s mostly me writing the same sentence over and over:

“Why are these numbers so different.”

A concrete patio is deceptively simple. It’s a flat rectangle that you walk on.

And yet quotes will come back like:

• Contractor A: $4,800
• Contractor B: $11,900
• Contractor C: $19,400

…and they’ll all be for “a concrete patio.”

This post is me trying to make that sentence stop lying.