Chimney advice needed

[andreadebiase]

Perhaps someone might be able to give me a wise advice on what to do.
The problem is double, I have a chimney that is crumbling at the top (outside) and is also oozing some black stuff on the floor of the attic. I need to fix this because the insurance company doesn`t want to have briks falling on the roof. Chimney is only for the heater furnace..not a fireplace.
I am looking for the most cost effective solution keeping in mind that I am keeping the house for another 5 years and not for life (at least this is the plan).
Ideally I would have it lined inside and rebuilt at the top which is very expensive (around 6K).
The other option would be to rebuild it without putting a liner inside. This would be cheaper (1K) but would not stop the corrosive process and oozing. In this case, would rebuilding and capping the top stop the oozing? water would not get in but water would get still from the furnace burning natural gas.

The last option is to divert the exhaust to a second chimney that I have 10 feet away and seal the primary chimney which would need to be still fixed at the top because insurance says so...
So what do you guys think? Do have any suggestion on this matter?

[Wgoodrich]

If the bricks have not dislodged too much you may be able to mix up some portland cement and trowel about a 3" thick overall covering on the surface of the entire chimney including inside the attic. You would need to tuck point it first, filling in the lost mortar best you can before you cover it with the cement. This is often done for crumbling brick foundations too. Should last you about 10 years on that type repair. Get a few bids and see the cost factor then decide.

Good Luck

Wg

[Bumblerazz]

I'm a little surprised you have black ooze. A natural gas furnace shouldn't be producing too much soot, or enough that you get black ooze. Was the chimney at one time for a fireplace? I would have your furnace repair guy have a look to make sure your furnace is running properly.

Either way, I think Wg has the right idea. The other chimney would have been my first choice, but you would still need to put a liner in, thus defeating the purpose of switching in the first place. I know in my area that any major reno requires you to bring any new changes/construction up to code, for us a liner would be bare minimum (the insurance people have good lobyists!!).