Probably dumb question...

[Girl]

Anyway, the how often do you clean your chimney made me think of something.
I asked my BF to be at my house when I had my chimney cleaned last.
The sweep said my chimney was old. My BF said well yes we know that.
He did not ask what he meant so now I am thinking about that statement.
I had called and spoke to them after the sweep was done because I was not there & he said things looked good no mention of anything else & of course I did not ask about the old statement.
What is your opinion on the statement "You have an old chimney".
It has a tile liner, outside it looks solid no cracking on the outside & heights are not for me to look down the thing.
Just wondering...
Thanks

 

[eernest4]

my chimney is old too. built in 1910 for a coal furnace. That does not stop me burning wood 16/7.
I put on the oil/ money burner when i sleep because I dont like waking up in the middle of the night freezing my a off.

Some of my cars are old too, but they both still run . 1987 olds@19,000 miles & 1987 dodge colt@34,000 miles. My mother is old 96 years to be exact & my dog even more older than my mom,in dog years 15 x7 =105 yr old dog. & i am old 60.

What can be said about old things ? they have to be well maintained & constantly looked after & checked to make sure that nothing else has deteriated.

If my old cars run, it is because I have fixed every thing that breaks on them. & its something else breaking every 6 months. But, my new cars are the same, something else breaking or wearing out every 6 months. 98 honda civic hatchback @101,000 & 2004 toyota celica GTS @19,000miles. honda I just did new radiator, new radiator cap ,new antifreeze & new thermostat.summer 07 was new break pads & exhaust pipe.
2004 celica gts needs new tires,$600.oo & i just buy new battery.

So old stuff has to be constantly fixed and watched carefully for signs of new failure, but you can keep using it until something breaks that can not be fixed or is too expensive to repair.

IF YOU REALLY WANT TO KNOW EXACTLY WHAT THE CHIMNEY SWEEP MEANT WHEN HE SAID
"YOUR CHIMNEY IS OLD. '" i WOULD GO RIGHT UP IN HIS FACE AND SAY, excuse me, but last week you said my chimney was old & I agreed with you but it have been driving me nuts so would you please expain to me exactly what you meant by that and your reasoning behind it. Then maybe, I might be able to sleep at nite again.

 

[stoveguy2esw]

Anyway, the how often do you clean your chimney made me think of something.
I asked my BF to be at my house when I had my chimney cleaned last.
The sweep said my chimney was old. My BF said well yes we know that.
He did not ask what he meant so now I am thinking about that statement.
I had called and spoke to them after the sweep was done because I was not there & he said things looked good no mention of anything else & of course I did not ask about the old statement.
What is your opinion on the statement "You have an old chimney".
It has a tile liner, outside it looks solid no cracking on the outside & heights are not for me to look down the thing.
Just wondering...
Thanks

would interest me as well, its possible he was "fishing" maybe not , does this sweep carry a csia or nfi certification?

 

[savageactor7]

Good morning Girl, when we were to our chimney was old...the sweep explained that it didn't have an inner core of flue brick. basically our chimney was just brick...he went on to say that the mortar could separate from the bricks allowing sparks to penetrate the interior walls and cause a fire.

When he was done sweeping he asked to go in the attic to inspect the brick and sure enough he found deteriorated cement and said we could have the same thing hidden in the walls. 10 minutes later I was on the phone asking around for a chimney mason.

Now when I had a chimney mason on the ground he said my chimney was old cause it didn't go straight up. In the attic part of the house the chimney angeled about 20 degrees off perpendicular then went straight up again. apparently during the civil war era this was conventional thinking on building a proper chimney.

 

[Girl]

Thanks for the replies folks. I was away in Vermont for the weekend.
The sweep I use is fully certified & this time it was not one of the usual boys I have come by.
The chimney I use is not civil war old.
I know the owner kept regular maintenance & the person who lived here before me did not use it at all.
When I had the chimney cleaned when I moved in there was a tree growing in there (we were perplexed as there is a cap on it)
We had that taken out of course & no damage,this was 4 years ago.
I spoke with a neighbor, life long burner & he thought they may have been testing the waters.
Find out end of the season I guess...

 

[billb3]

The old comment may have been just conversation.

If it was old and you were firing it up after having been dormant for many years I might want a quick look-see after a few weks of burning.

 

[swestall]

I could take a different twist on this; it would just make me think. After my nightmare with the Defiant Non-CAT I had a slight stage 3 creosote build up in my chimney; really nothing I couldn't clean. But, because I was installing a new Mansfield with a 6 inch output I decided to insert a SS liner into it.
I think that was one of my best decisions because it does a few things. It makes cleaning really easy and clean SS is great to operate. It makes the draft much better for the lenght of the stack:16'. And, it gives me a sealed burn chamber: we capped off the top/bottom and wrapped the liner with foil lined insulating wool blanket.
I could have operated safe with the old clay liner; but now I am really safe and have optimum operating conditions.

As for the comment: call the owner of the company and ask him exactly what the tech meant.