Chimney cracks and creosote leakage?

[brownhousechris]

Hi all,
I have an old house, with a cinder-block chimney that serves both our oil furnace and wood stove (I know that's not in compliance with code, but let's leave that alone for now). The chimney abuts a small closet, and a little while ago I noticed that the block inside this closet has some cracks, which seem to be slowly weeping creosote, and a little moisture. I'm attaching a couple pictures.

My questions are: is this serious, and what are the repair solutions? I'm wondering is these cracks are something I can seal myself, from inside the closet, or whether this is a job for a mason. Thanks for any input!

 

[bholler]

Hi all,
I have an old house, with a cinder-block chimney that serves both our oil furnace and wood stove (I know that's not in compliance with code, but let's leave that alone for now). The chimney abuts a small closet, and a little while ago I noticed that the block inside this closet has some cracks, which seem to be slowly weeping creosote, and a little moisture. I'm attaching a couple pictures.

My questions are: is this serious, and what are the repair solutions? I'm wondering is these cracks are something I can seal myself, from inside the closet, or whether this is a job for a mason. Thanks for any input!

Yes it is very serious. Your liners have failed leading to creosote and condensation soaking through the block. Combine that with the lack of proper chimney clearances and the oil and wood combo a chimney fire could be disastrous.

 

[brownhousechris]

Thank you! I had a sweep inspect the chimney this fall and they said it looked OK, but this seemed like a big problem to me too. I will have a technician out to look at it immediately. And I'll probably hold off on fires in the stove until it gets resolved.

 

[bholler]

Thank you! I had a sweep inspect the chimney this fall and they said it looked OK, but this seemed like a big problem to me too. I will have a technician out to look at it immediately. And I'll probably hold off on fires in the stove until it gets resolved.

Find a new sweep if they said a chimney that has a wood stove and a furnace running through it and looks like that outside is ok