Inherited a wood stove... What is this in my chimney?

[Plus1etal]

Hi everyone,
My wife and I recently purchased a house that came with a nice bonus - a 1980 Coalbrookdale Darby wood stove. I've since been reading in these forums for advice and I'm thankful for all the knowledge here!

So today I opened up my access door and vacuumed out all the soot/creosote that had been swept down there. I also took out my pipe from where it penetrates to the chimney just to get a look inside. That's when I noticed some strange stuff. It's not flaky or glossy like creosote - in fact it looks like mortar / cement. Pictures here - sorry they're not great. I added a little video I took with my boroscope too.

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Could this just be mortar from where the liner meets...whatever is under it? It's right at the level where the stovepipe comes into the chimney. Again it really doesn't look like creosote - and I can't chip it away (tried with a fire poker).

Thanks for any help!

 

[Jan Pijpelink]

Video? Black screen is all I see.

 

[Jan Pijpelink]

Hi everyone,
My wife and I recently purchased a house that came with a nice bonus - a 1980 Coalbrookdale Darby wood stove. I've since been reading in these forums for advice and I'm thankful for all the knowledge here!

So today I opened up my access door and vacuumed out all the soot/creosote that had been swept down there. I also took out my pipe from where it penetrates to the chimney just to get a look inside. That's when I noticed some strange stuff. It's not flaky or glossy like creosote - in fact it looks like mortar / cement. Pictures here - sorry they're not great. I added a little video I took with my boroscope too.

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

Could this just be mortar from where the liner meets...whatever is under it? It's right at the level where the stovepipe comes into the chimney. Again it really doesn't look like creosote - and I can't chip it away (tried with a fire poker).

Thanks for any help!

Now I saw it. In that 1/384" of space I clicked at the right moment. That's a lot of crap in there.

 

[bholler]

I still cant see anything

 

[Jan Pijpelink]

I still cant see anything

Move your mouse in the top left corner where it says imgur. If you click at the right moment, you're lucky. Took me 23 minutes.

 

[bholler]

It just looks like a lump of mortar to me but i do see what looks like a crack in the liner directly across from the crock. Which isnt surprising due to the burnt creosote laying in the crock indicating a chimney fire at some point.

 

[Plus1etal]

First off - I apologize profusely for the weird imgur gallery thing.... I've reattached the photos directly. Thanks for the patience.

It just looks like a lump of mortar to me but i do see what looks like a crack in the liner directly across from the crock. Which isnt surprising due to the burnt creosote laying in the crock indicating a chimney fire at some point.

Hey bholler - thanks for taking a look. I'm afraid I don't know what to look for to see the liner crack. Could you explain what you're looking for? Thanks!
Also, do you know why there would be lumpy mortar right in front of the crock? I assume it has to do with how the chimney was constructed.

 

[bholler]

Ok now that i can zoom in on the pic that may not be a crack. But the chimn egg y needs cleaned and inspected.

 

[Plus1etal]

Ok now that i can zoom in on the pic that may not be a crack. But the chimn egg y needs cleaned and inspected.

OK great - thanks! I plan on getting it inspected here in a few days. Any thoughts on why there would be mortar there? I don't know if that's normal or not.

 

[bholler]

OK great - thanks! I plan on getting it inspected here in a few days. Any thoughts on why there would be mortar there? I don't know if that's normal or not.

Where exactly is it you are talking about? Are you referring to that edge on the right side that you can see white on?

 

[weatherguy]

I don't see any egg in there

 

[Plus1etal]

Yeah, the picture isn't super clear. Here's a copy that I drew on:

The blue section is just the liner - it continues smooth up to the roof.
The red section is the section I'm wondering about. It is a dull black buildup that doesn't chip away. Under the black, which I'm guessing is just soot, it is white. This leads me to believe that it's just mortar covered in soot. It's not glossy or flaky, so I don't think it's creosote buildup. I'm just not sure why there's mortar right where the crock goes into the chimney