[notfarnow]

I feel your pain. 4 years ago I bought an Osburn wood-burning fireplace insert, and had a guy lined up to help me install it. Then I spoke to my insurance guy, who told me I absolutely HAD to have it professionally installed.

Just the same, I did the hearth myself, opened up the fireplace for clearance... basically did all the pre-work so the "pro" just had to set the insert in & run the SS liner down the chimney. Took him under 3 hours.

Simple, right?

The thing never really had enough draw. After the first year of burning, I went to sweep the liner and realized the "professional" installed a 5" liner instead of the 6" one it calls for.