PSA: My creosote log nearly caused a chimney fire

I was out in Omaha last Thursday on a routine sweep for Mrs. Davison when I noticed this thick, flaky creosote buildup about 3 feet down the flue. She told me she'd been using those creosote sweeping logs every month thinking it'd replace a real cleaning. I had to show her the 2 inch layer of hard glaze that was still there, and explained those logs can actually make stuff worse by loosening big chunks that then block the flue. Have any of you run into clients who swear by those things?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_evan21d ago

Wait, a whole 2 inches of glaze? That sounds like she'd been using those logs for well over a year without a real cleaning. Did she act surprised when you showed her, or did she try to argue those logs were actually working?

willow40721d ago

That really reminds me of a friend of mine who had a similar thing happen with her wood stove. She swore up and down she cleaned the chimney every fall, but when I went over to help her with a birds nest issue, I could see there was a thick layer of glaze built up inside the pipe. She tried to tell me the logs were "self-cleaning" and that was just normal char. I had to show her the manual from her stove to prove that stuff was a fire hazard waiting to happen. She finally admitted she had been skipping the yearly sweep for maybe three years because she thought the logs did the job.