Unpopular opinion: That homeowner in Boulder who refused a liner taught me a hard lesson

I was on a job in Boulder last fall, a big old stone fireplace in a house from the 1920s. The flue tiles were cracked and the mortar was basically dust. I told the owner, a guy in his 50s, he needed a full stainless steel liner for safety. He looked me dead in the eye and said, 'My granddad burned wood in this for sixty years and never burned the place down.' I laid out the cost, showed him the cracks with my mirror, everything. He just would not hear it. I walked off that job. It stuck with me because it wasn't about the money, it was about pride blinding someone to a real danger in their own home. How do you guys handle clients who just won't listen to the facts? Do you ever walk away?

2 comments

2 Comments

webb.jordan1mo ago

Man, that hits home. I had a guy in a Denver bungalow with a chimney leaning so bad I could see daylight through the bricks. He said his uncle was a mason and told him it was "settling character." I showed him pictures of collapsed chimneys, but he just got mad. Sometimes you gotta walk before their stubbornness makes you part of a disaster, you know?

elizabetht561mo ago

Honestly, "settling character" is a real thing though, not always a disaster. Old houses move and some lean is normal if it stopped years ago. Walking away from every job like that means missing out on good work.