Last Friday. 10/7. Done by Bill Leary. Dan's team (two extra guys, one black the other younger Hispanic/black looking). Works great now.
Call was made two days ago, Charged deposit $89 over the phone. Bryan was sent the next day (Thurs) to check what's wrong with our water heater, which we had tried restart a few times before but only this time, it wouldn't stay lit after the sparks. I replaced the thermopile myself a day before through Amazon (Reliance Water Heater CO 100112328 21" Thermopile Assembly) order and even ordered later the Gas Control Valve (Honeywell WT8840B1000 Water Heater Gas Control Valve, NAT 160 Degree F 1" Cavity) in thinking that since it's not the thermopile (low voltage - I tested using volt meter fine actually - went up passed 650mv within around 3 mins - but foolishly believed the 2 flash per 3 seconds indicator which meant low thermopile voltage), it must be the Gas control valve unit that's malfunctioning. But replacing the Gas Control Valve is more work, and there is no guaranty that it was the problem, so we decided to hire a plumber.
Bryan looked at our chimney next to the water heater and said we need the chimney liner, per the city/state's requirement. And our water heater is supposed to be replaced every 10 years or else the rust/deposit in the tank would crack the tank and leak water. So here's his quote:
$2500 for boiler replacement
$1125 for 30ft chimney liner
customer bargain discount: $250
Down payment $400....the previous $89 deposit is credited back into the remaining total of $2975.
Labor guaranty = 1 year.
Parts guaranty = 6 years.
After the chimney liner (basically a long aluminum looking air duct through the chimney) installation, Nadia and I noticed another metallic mini chimney next to the main chimney on the roof, and we wonder what that second smaller metal chimney is. After research, I think that second chimney's been there the whole time and that it is likely to be the chimney from the attic, but I am not sure, I'll add this under Questions for advanced learning.