Had coffee with a retired inspector who said something about creosote that stuck with me.

He said, 'You can clean a flue perfect, but if the wood's green, you're just the guy who comes back next year.' He was right. I've seen it on jobs where the fireplace gets used a ton with wet wood. How do you guys talk to homeowners about fuel quality without sounding like you're just upselling?

3 comments

3 Comments

walker.max1mo ago

Ever show them a split piece of wet wood versus a dry one?

the_tessa1mo ago

Absolutely, that's the best way to show the difference. I did exactly what walker.max said with a piece of oak last season. The wet stuff was heavy and just steamed, but the dry piece caught fire fast. It really makes the lesson stick.

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grace_white17d ago

Hang on though, is green wood really that terrible? A lot of old timers, including that inspector's generation, burned whatever they could get and their chimneys didn't collapse. I've seen houses with a century of creosote buildup that still draw fine. Maybe the real issue is just not burning trash and keeping the fire hot enough to dry the wood as it burns. Splitting wet oak and showing it to a homeowner makes for a good show but it also ignores that some people can't afford to season wood for a year or two.