Chimney Stains... Is This a Sign of a Problem???

[Carlone16]

My neighbour pointed out the staining on our metal roof and said it doesn't look right. He has been running his woodstove for a lot longer than us and doesn't have any staining on his roof. Should we be concerned? We are running a BK Sirroco 20. Last year was the first time we ran it full season.

 

[ABMax24]

Is that rust or creosote staining? Hard to tell with the roof being wet, you must have got the same rain we did today.

 

[armanidog]

When was the last time time you cleaned the chimney? Probably creosote, metal roofs do not rust anymore with Galvalume being used now. A leak in a joint probably.

 

[begreen]

The neighbor may be running with a hotter flue and/or drier firewood. What stove is the neighbor running?

 

[Carlone16]

Is that rust or creosote staining? Hard to tell with the roof being wet, you must have got the same rain we did today.

It's definitely not rust from the roof. So, I'm guessing creosote, but weird that it's only on one side.

 

[Carlone16]

The neighbor may be running with a hotter flue and/or drier firewood. What stove is the neighbor running?

I don't know, but likely at least 15 years old since that's when his house was built. Could it be the difference between a catalytic (ours) and non-cat stove (probably his)?

 

[Carlone16]

When was the last time time you cleaned the chimney? Probably creosote, metal roofs do not rust anymore with Galvalume being used now. A leak in a joint probably.

We cleaned it with a sooteater last January, after a lifetime burn of maybe 2 cords. We got about a cup of fine powder from that cleaning. We've burnt about 1.5 cords since then. Will shut it down next week for another cleaning and inspect the chimney. A leak in a chimney joint would explain why it's all on one side of the chimney.

 

[begreen]

Yes, it's possible. That's why I asked. Catalytic stoves can have lower flue temps which can cause creosote to build up on the cap. The one side of the cap may just be slightly lower causing rain water to run off on that edge.

 

[Carlone16]

Is that rust or creosote staining? Hard to tell with the roof being wet, you must have got the same rain we did today.

Yep, it's been drizzling all day here on the north shore of Lesser Slave Lake. We're not far from you!

 

[ABMax24]

Yep, it's been drizzling all day here on the north shore of Lesser Slave Lake. We're not far from you!

That's pretty close. Which end on the north side, Hilliard's Bay or Marten Beach area? I spent a couple years in the town of Slave Lake as a kid, dad worked at the OSB mill until Weyerhauser sold it to Tolko, then we moved back to GP. The house (and whole neighborhood) we lived in was lost in the fire.

 

[bholler]

When was the last time time you cleaned the chimney? Probably creosote, metal roofs do not rust anymore with Galvalume being used now. A leak in a joint probably.

They absolutely do still rust

 

[Carlone16]

That's pretty close. Which end on the north side, Hilliard's Bay or Marten Beach area? I spent a couple years in the town of Slave Lake as a kid, dad worked at the OSB mill until Weyerhauser sold it to Tolko, then we moved back to GP. The house (and whole neighborhood) we lived in was lost in the fire.

We're in Marten Beach. That fire in Slave Lake was tragic, we had lots of homeless friends.

 

[ABMax24]

We're in Marten Beach. That fire in Slave Lake was tragic, we had lots of homeless friends.

Beautiful area up there. We still knew a few families living there at the time as well that we're left homeless, I'm still in disbelief to this day.

Back to the topic at hand though, how does the inside of the chimney look? Is there a bunch of creosote build up inside it as well? The cap definitely looks pretty black, but if I'm not mistaken that looks like an ICC Excel cap, my parents have the same and it gets some buildup over the winter as well with a traditional non-cat stove, the wind just cools it off enough to allow buildup. I wonder if the deluxe raincap with the windshield would help or hinder the problem? Otherwise if the chimney itself is clean it shouldn't be too much of an issue, just clean it off when the buildup accumulates too much, you'll probably just have to live with the stain running down the roof.

 

[Carlone16]

Beautiful area up there. We still knew a few families living there at the time as well that we're left homeless, I'm still in disbelief to this day.

Back to the topic at hand though, how does the inside of the chimney look? Is there a bunch of creosote build up inside it as well? The cap definitely looks pretty black, but if I'm not mistaken that looks like an ICC Excel cap, my parents have the same and it gets some buildup over the winter as well with a traditional non-cat stove, the wind just cools it off enough to allow buildup. I wonder if the deluxe raincap with the windshield would help or hinder the problem? Otherwise if the chimney itself is clean it shouldn't be too much of an issue, just clean it off when the buildup accumulates too much, you'll probably just have to live with the stain running down the roof.

We're going to inspect and clean the chimney next week. Based on our last cleaning (Jan 2021), we expect it to be pretty clean, but definitely worth a look. I can live with the stain, but not with creosote build up. A neighbour here with a BK had a chimney fire last week. Pretty scary with the fire dept 30 minutes away! They almost lost their house. It's made us extra cautious.

 

[ABMax24]

We're going to inspect and clean the chimney next week. Based on our last cleaning (Jan 2021), we expect it to be pretty clean, but definitely worth a look. I can live with the stain, but not with creosote build up. A neighbour here with a BK had a chimney fire last week. Pretty scary with the fire dept 30 minutes away! They almost lost their house. It's made us extra cautious.

I know how you feel, for the last 2 years I have swept my chimney after every cord of wood, I'm hoping to switch to every 1.5 cords this year, but my exterior chimney builds more creosote than most. It's kind of a pain, but I know I'll never get enough creosote built up to cause any harm if it ignites this way.

 

[stoveliker]

How dry is your wood? And how did you measure that?