I was getting my taxes done the other day. The CPA is an 83 year old gal who lives way out in the country in the mountains of North Carolina in a hundred year old farm house.
Her CPA office is in the basement.
When I entered the house, upstairs, I noticed a strong smell of smoke.
In her office I saw in the corner a huge, home made wood stove. This stove looked like a Papa Bear on steroids.
She told me that it was made by a local welder. This guy did a real nice job and the stove was very well made. The six inch pipe went through the wall and joined a masonry stack that was outside the house..
She told me that the stack was made of fire brick, and surrounded by concrete block. She told me she had it lined with a metal pipe.
I asked her about sweeping the pipe. She said, "No, that brick will tear that metal pipe up."
Well I knew what she was getting at. In the old days, they tied 3 bricks together and lowered them down the stack with a rope, to sweep the pipe. The bricks would bang against the masonry stack and knock the creosote off.
I told her that she needed a brush on a fiberglass pole to sweep that pipe and it needed to be done once a year.
She looked at me like I was crazy. She said that the pipe was ok. She said that the creosote chunks fell down the chimney. She said that, every April, she got a guy to disconnect the stove pipe at the bottom, and reach in there and pull the creosote chunks out.
I told her that bricks on a rope were way out of date, and that if she would sweep the pipe with a brush she would get better performance, and her house wouldn't smell like smoke.
Granny told me that what she needed was an 8 inch stove pipe. She was not interested in what I had to say.
Her CPA office is in the basement.
When I entered the house, upstairs, I noticed a strong smell of smoke.
In her office I saw in the corner a huge, home made wood stove. This stove looked like a Papa Bear on steroids.
She told me that it was made by a local welder. This guy did a real nice job and the stove was very well made. The six inch pipe went through the wall and joined a masonry stack that was outside the house..
She told me that the stack was made of fire brick, and surrounded by concrete block. She told me she had it lined with a metal pipe.
I asked her about sweeping the pipe. She said, "No, that brick will tear that metal pipe up."
Well I knew what she was getting at. In the old days, they tied 3 bricks together and lowered them down the stack with a rope, to sweep the pipe. The bricks would bang against the masonry stack and knock the creosote off.
I told her that she needed a brush on a fiberglass pole to sweep that pipe and it needed to be done once a year.
She looked at me like I was crazy. She said that the pipe was ok. She said that the creosote chunks fell down the chimney. She said that, every April, she got a guy to disconnect the stove pipe at the bottom, and reach in there and pull the creosote chunks out.
I told her that bricks on a rope were way out of date, and that if she would sweep the pipe with a brush she would get better performance, and her house wouldn't smell like smoke.
Granny told me that what she needed was an 8 inch stove pipe. She was not interested in what I had to say.
