Newbie Creosote Questions

[westcoastchimney]

Hi All,

Just moved into my first home with a wood stove and have been learning as much as I can but glad I found this site and others. Obviously being a beginner i've had some smouldering fires and less then perfect but i'm learning to burn it hotter. Now the landlord said she cleaned the chimney, and maybe she did, but after talking with family who have had chimney fires before they warned to be careful. Anyhow today I took off the bottom plate on my chimney and took a picture up the chimney. I've attached it and it seems like quite a bit of creosite, almost thought it was bad cement laying, but I have no point of reference as this is my first stove. This is obviously the bottom of the chimney so can really tell what's going on where the pipe actually meets the chimney but it looks very black and tarry up there. Should I be worried and get the landlord to do another cleaning? Unfortunately had to buy wood in December so it's not perfectly seasoned but it's also not bad too wet and burns well. I also have a lot of crusty stuff at the bottom which I presume is creosote from the hotter fires I've been burning falling off. Thanks for any help.

 

[begreen]

Welcome, that is definitely tarry. Is that where the chimney goes outside? You will note that this chimney is unlined. That is an additional red flag. What are you burning in?

 

[westcoastchimney]

This is taken from very bottom where the plate is so I believe the pipe from the stove goes in to the chimney where you see the tar coming down and then straight up to the outside. I've attached a pic of my stove. Would having a really hot fire help burn this off is that dangerous at this point?

 

[begreen]

I see, so the picture was taken from the cleanout below? This needs to be swept from what I can see and burning habits changed. A picture from the top down probably would not be too pretty. Trying to burn it out is a HUGE gamble. I can not advise this.

 

[TheRambler]

From this picture its really hard to tell the current state. You really need a picture from the top down. Looking up from the cleanout in the very bottom in this case only lets see you a miniscule picture of the big picture.

 

[westcoastchimney]

Yup I may get up on the roof next time it's not raining/snowing but may just get landlord to clean it. She said it was cleaned before we moved in but I have no idea.

I'm a new burner so I would say my habits are still in the training stages but reading the forums and other websites help. I'll also season my own wood next year as buying perfectly seasoned wood in December wasn't possible although it does seem quite dry.

 

[bholler]

The way it is built i see a huge potential for air leaking into the bottom of the chimney hurting draft and creating creosote i would recommend a liner personally From what i see in that pic but hard to say for sure with just one pic

 

[begreen]

Good point. If a lot of air is leaking around the cleanout door, it will dilute and cool the flue gases. Tape up the door with duct tape or make a gasket for it by putting a good bead around the rim of the open door, then closing it on the silicone and let it set up before reopening the door.

 

[bholler]

I was acctually referring to the liner stopping where it does many times there are small openings in the mortar joints in the block that allow air in and many times open block cores at the cleanout that let in a large amount of air