Saw a chimney go from smoke belcher to clean burn in 20 minutes

Been sweeping for 8 years now. Had a job last week in Brookline where the customer said her fireplace smoked out the living room every time. Pulled out a massive creosote dam at the second flue tile. Thing was like a hockey puck wedged sideways. After clearing it she lit a test fire and the draft pulled perfect. No smoke at all. Anyone else run into a random obstruction that high up that was causing the whole problem?

2 comments

2 Comments

anthonymurray22d ago

Massive creosote dam at the second flue tile" - a buddy of mine does chimney work in Boston and told me about a similar thing. He found a dead bird literally wedged sideways blocking almost the whole flue in a Beacon Hill brownstone. Once he fished it out the draft was perfect, no more smoke in the living room. Weird how something that high up can cause the whole system to fail.

murray.spencer22d ago

Creosote dams are no joke but a dead bird takes the cake. @anthonymurray that reminds me of a story a neighbor told me about his old house in Providence. They kept getting a weird smell from the fireplace every time it rained. Turns out a squirrel had fallen down the chimney and gotten stuck partway down the flue. Must have been there for months before they pulled it out. He said the draft sucked so bad after that they almost didn't need the damper anymore. Nature finds a way to mess with your airflow I guess.