HELP Soot covering interior of house!!!

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Jamee

New Member
Dec 24, 2020
1
Milford PA
While cleaning the pellet stove I did not realize the intact was blowing soot into the house until it was tooooo late. I did not have the heat on upstairs and the soot travelled all through my house covering the complete interior of my home. I need to have a clean up crew come clean the damage, however, my homeowners insurance is "not sure" they cover something like this. Can someone please help me with any information. Thanks in Advance.
 
Was the vent pipe installed properly and all the joints sealed? Is there any evidence of where the soot was coming from. As for the insurance, every policy is different and they will always try not to pay. So read up on your policy.
 
Think you are screwed. You should have ascertained where the soot was going prior to what you did. Supposed to suck it out through the venting with the vacuum side of a leaf blower, not blow it in.

Serve-Pro time, 'Like it never happened', for a price.

I bet you have a real mess.
 
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trying to figure out how soot got through your whole home? My stove barley has any in the exhaust pipe when i clean it.
 
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trying to figure out how soot got through your whole home? My stove barley has any in the exhaust pipe when i clean it.
Interesting that your stove runs on Barley. I'll have to try that sometime. You mean 'barely' I believe.....lol

Pretty obvious to me. Instead of sucking the venting out with the vacuum side of a leaf blower, the OP used the pressure side (blow side) of the leaf blower and blew all the fly ash though the stove (I bet the door was open) into the house. Fly ash has a nasty habit of floating around and then clinging to surfaces plus it stinks.

Sure am glad I'm not the OP. Hard lesson to learn, which side sucks and which side blows....lol
 
While cleaning the pellet stove I did not realize the intact was blowing soot into the house until it was tooooo late. I did not have the heat on upstairs and the soot travelled all through my house covering the complete interior of my home. I need to have a clean up crew come clean the damage, however, my homeowners insurance is "not sure" they cover something like this. Can someone please help me with any information. Thanks in Advance.
Not understanding what an intact is nor the method of cleaning in use? What is it you were doing in other words?
 
My interpretation, he was using a leaf blower to clean, but had it blowing into the pipe instead of making it suck from the blower intake. If that's the case , then lesson learned , sorry...
 
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One of those 'read between the lines' comments. I'm doubting that posters actually read what they post before they click post it........;lol

You see a lot of that on just about every forum today.
 
My interpretation, he was using a leaf blower to clean, but had it blowing into the pipe instead of making it suck from the blower intake. If that's the case , then lesson learned , sorry...
Big difference between suck and blow as in opposite ends of the leaf blower... Least it's clean, of course all the fly ash is inside instead of outside and that isn't a plus by any stretch.
 
I know, but "intact"? I'll find mitsakes in mine too ...
.... but I'll go back and edit my post if I've already posted. :)















"Mitsake" was no mistake either.
 
If no mistake, I’m still trying to figure out what could happen to cause all of the soot everywhere
 
I can't find it, but somewhere there is a thread about someone who used the exhaust on his shop vac, instead of suction, when cleaning the venting from outside. He had an impressive cloud of ash throughout his house, and a very displeased wife.
 
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Could be "shopvac" vs "intact" ? Please come back tell us more.....
 
Spellcheck does some odd things. Kids all do everything from their phones these days.
 
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Last I knew an insurance company will not cover your own errors (I am being polite here), nor should they. If insurance were to pay it would get added to the actuarials and end up costing the rest of us. If there were hot embers it might have been a candidate for a Darwin award!
 
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I'd bet the OP means "intake", which may mean the LBT was in use - backwards.
 
Last I knew an insurance company will not cover your own errors (I am being polite here), nor should they. If insurance were to pay it would get added to the actuarials and end up costing the rest of us. If there were hot embers it might have been a candidate for a Darwin award!
Yeah not sure where this situation falls. Most claims are errors of some sort. Like if you are not paying attention and rear end a car in front of you. Clearly your error and they pay.
 
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My final comment is... At least the house wasn't covered with 'Suet'......... :p
 
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I can see how this would happen, and at first I thought the same thing when everybody talked about the leaf blower trick. Especially considering I have this cheap electric leaf blower that intakes from ambient air, I didn’t realize the good ones had an actual intake port. So I figured blow it into the cold air intake and watch the ash blow out the exhaust. However it’s not a completely sealed path because of the auger and hopper. I knew it wouldn’t work right so I never tried it.
 
Bet it got 'hazy' in the OP's house...... ;lol
 
I ran across one of the big Craftsman leaf blower - vac s a few years ago on sale at a K-mart, I hold it up to cleanout tee with a short plastic near 4" connection to the leaf vac intake holding the vac upside down, shoots black soot out across the yard from the blow out end. Stove off & shut first.

I have run a 2.5" Shop Vac's hoses way up the flue with the vac vacuuming before I found that sale. I even have extra hose for that, but only used a time or two.

I like the big leaf blower vac better, just watch where it's pointed.
 
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Well, that makes for a Not-So-White Christmas...

Hopefully OP comes back and further details what actually happened.

And "intake" sounds best for "Intact", yet that still does not clarify the statements completely.

Bill
 
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We will never see him back... The wife came home and killed him when she seen the mess...LOL... Still cant see how that happened but chit accidents happen.. I don't have a leave blower with a suction that i can hook up to pipe.. So i got the smart idea that while i had it apart one day and air compressor was running i would hook it up to the pipe and blow it out... Big mistake to much pressure for that little pipe..lol... Spent the rest of the say cleaning the house