Wood Stove and Chimney Cleaning

[Hexa Fox]

Hey guys so long story short I have been doing this for awhile now but now the responsibility has become solely mine. So I started burning this year already and noticed a good deal of smoke coming back into the house. So I checked the chimney and made the mistake of brining a floodlight rather than a straight beam light. So I could only see a few panels and they looked very clean. I suspected my problem was with the wood stove. So today I reached up into the baffle and got a whole handful of stuff. That is when I realized I would need to move the woodstove.

My father was adamant about cleaning it every single year, even though sometimes from year to year things seemed to be clean. So I was hoping you guys would have some feedback for me, because upon taking this stuff apart it looks like I have not cleaned it in years. We did clean it last year. The only thing I changed this year is that I got lazy and I have been using pieces of "resin wood" and a butane torch to get my fire going. Could this cause this type of buildup or did I just burn heavier than I thought?

My father always cleaned these parts of the woodstove with a putty knife. So I see mixed reviews of the Soot Eaters people have been attaching to drills. I think they would really help me out here with the woodstove if they fit in the pipes. Can you use them on everything? Like the hole between the woodstove and chimney, the woodstove pipe etc? I would love to hear from you guys that bought the Soot Eaters and how you like them.

I know this post has already gotten long but we have also had a problem with soot getting all over stuff around the house. Especially right around the woodstove and it definitely seems worse than other people experience. We have to dust all the time while burning throughout the winter. We recently changed the gasket around the door but it did not seem to help. Also the door itself seems to be a little loose. My father said to leave it alone because trying to tighten it might break the bolts and create a bigger problem. We also do not cement around the woodstove pipe either. Thoughts?

Before this gets any longer I will leave it as is for now. I have always gotten awesome feedback from this site. You guys just helped me decide on a recent log splitter purchase which I m very thankful for. Definitely want to get this resolved for Winter so that my new log splitter does not go to waste. These are the pipes from the wood stove and the pip that goes out to the chimney by the way. I am probably going to get a better flashlight and inspect the chimney again. I imagine those first few panels may be giving me a bad idea of what the rest looks like.

 

[snobdds]

wood quality plays the biggest role. the second is the type of stove, is it a new one that burns the smoke?

Also, you need to burn it into your head that it must be cleaned every year.

I see a lot of sticky creosote, so either the wood is not seasoned or the stove is not efficient to the point is reburns the smoke.

 

[sean donato]

Not the worst I've seem, but definatly far from the best. I was using a steel brush on fiberglass poles to clean the chimney, but since switching to stainless steel chimney I use a heavy Poly brush with the same poles.
I'm of the same opinion, burning unseasoned wood, or smoldering the wood/burning too cold to keep the chimney hot. I found in my old chimney a damper in the pipe couldn't be closed at all or I would loose most of my draft and the chimney would build creosote very quickly. I just kinda figured out, paying the piper and loosing some heat out the chimney is the name of the game.

Keeping clean and burning good dry wood, as well as routine cleanings are paramount to heating with wood.

 

[Hexa Fox]

wood quality plays the biggest role. the second is the type of stove, is it a new one that burns the smoke?

Also, you need to burn it into your head that it must be cleaned every year.

I see a lot of sticky creosote, so either the wood is not seasoned or the stove is not efficient to the point is reburns the smoke.

I am no expert on firewood but last year we definitely had seasoned firewood. We have definitely had issues getting good seasoned firewood though. I'm not sure what your guys areas are like but around here none of the guys selling it are selling true seasoned firewood. Most of them split it straight into their truck or trailer and deliver it. You can tell right away that it was not split, stacked and allowed to dry in the slightest before delivery. I may not be an expert but I can tell this. So since I have been involved in the picture I have been purchasing firewood early Spring and stacking it and allowing to dry. My biggest problem right now is covering it properly.

I do however burn a pretty good mixture of stuff. I guess using my butane torch and the resin wood is not the problem? Makes getting a fire started super easy and fast.

Finally, no I believe our woodstove is quite old. My mother said she believes my father bought it at Western Auto in 1985. I can take a picture of it if you want? The only air control it has anywhere (pipe included) is below the door.

 

[Hexa Fox]

Okay so here is a picture of my woodstove that I previously mentioned. My mother said she believes my father bought it from Western Auto in 1985. Also the wood in the second picture is something my neighbor is giving me. I have been splitting and stacking it. Can anyone identify it by the picture?

 

[sean donato]

Looks similar to my old man's grizzly just a good bit smaller.
Most hard woods take 2 odd years to season. So getting in spring and letting them sit the sumer prolly isn't good enough. (This is just conjecture on my part, no way to know without being there or a moisture indicator.) I typically cut and process all my own logs, but do get the occasional load from a logging friend for payment from helping him out. So I always run ahead a few years in supply. I typically suggest to go this route, that way you know you have good dry wood. It does take a few years to get to this point. If you have the room, get a straight truck of logs. Get to splitting and stacking. Once you have your reserves built up, and are 2 or 3 years ahead it's easier to manage.
As for tarps, billboard vinyl is decently priced for seconds or take offs. Last pretty long. Rubber roofing is sweet, but expensive, old pool liners are great too, cheap Walmart tarps suck.

 

[Hexa Fox]

Looks similar to my old man's grizzly just a good bit smaller.
Most hard woods take 2 odd years to season. So getting in spring and letting them sit the sumer prolly isn't good enough. (This is just conjecture on my part, no way to know without being there or a moisture indicator.) I typically cut and process all my own logs, but do get the occasional load from a logging friend for payment from helping him out. So I always run ahead a few years in supply. I typically suggest to go this route, that way you know you have good dry wood. It does take a few years to get to this point. If you have the room, get a straight truck of logs. Get to splitting and stacking. Once you have your reserves built up, and are 2 or 3 years ahead it's easier to manage.
As for tarps, billboard vinyl is decently priced for seconds or take offs. Last pretty long. Rubber roofing is sweet, but expensive, old pool liners are great too, cheap Walmart tarps suck.

Yeah I have been learning that. Do not get me wrong I loved my father but he would always wait until it was getting cold to order firewood. Our neighbor had some stuff he wasn't using so he sold it to us cheap. It had been there a few years and it was easily the best stuff I have ever burned in our woodstove. It burned very nicely. We have always burned green wood every single year and it sucks to say the least. You are constantly fighting to keep it going and it is more work than it is worth.

My father always used our old pool covers. I just got rid of them this year because of how nasty they were getting. We cover our entire piles too. Isn't billboard vinyl just the glossy stuff? You can purchase it at Harbor Freight and some other places or am I thinking of something else?

 

[sb47]

Seasoning times will vary depending on type of wood and location (weather conditions) and where it is stored.

 

[sean donato]

Yeah I have been learning that. Do not get me wrong I loved my father but he would always wait until it was getting cold to order firewood. Our neighbor had some stuff he wasn't using so he sold it to us cheap. It had been there a few years and it was easily the best stuff I have ever burned in our woodstove. It burned very nicely. We have always burned green wood every single year and it sucks to say the least. You are constantly fighting to keep it going and it is more work than it is worth.

My father always used our old pool covers. I just got rid of them this year because of how nasty they were getting. We cover our entire piles too. Isn't billboard vinyl just the glossy stuff? You can purchase it at Harbor Freight and some other places or am I thinking of something else?

This is the stuff I have coming.
https://billboardtarps.com/shop/bil...-x-48&attribute_pa_color=black-recycled-print

 

[Hexa Fox]

This is the stuff I have coming.
https://billboardtarps.com/shop/bil...-x-48&attribute_pa_color=black-recycled-print

Thanks for all the feedback Sean both here and on my other thread. Also that goes for everyone else too. Your feedback has been very helpful. I found that site soon after I made my post. So how do you guys secure your covers and do you just cover the top of the wood for air flow or are you cool with covering it entirely? I have left all my firewood uncovered since early Spring of this year.

 

[sean donato]

I just cover the top. Even my wood shed is pretty open, although I have one side with ton on it, and the other side has... had a cloth tarp that I would roll up over sumer to let air flow through and let down over winter. More for personal comfort then any real reason. Mice tore it up pretty bad this sumer so it has holes all over it, but it still block the wind some what.

 

[Hexa Fox]

This is the stuff I have coming.
https://billboardtarps.com/shop/bil...-x-48&attribute_pa_color=black-recycled-print

So I just measured one of my wood piles and it looks like the 8x12 would be pretty much perfect for my needs. It would leave the outer edges of the wood open. It says you can run "pipes" through the edges to act as anchors? So do you just use conduit, rebar or something? I imagine that would prove pretty convenient. If I can just run a piece of conduit down each side of my wood pile and just lift one side up when I want to carry wood in.

I have always hated the pool covers for every reason. The only good thing about them is they are decently durable and cheap if you have a pool or can find someone giving them away. My father would always use whatever he could find to hold them down. Then water would get trapped in various places and make it impossible to find the anchors to access the wood. It really did suck, sometimes uncovering/recovering the wood was worse than carrying in the actual wood.

 

[sean donato]

I must admit I just toss a few pieces of wood on top and carry on lol. But yeah the pipe sounds like a good idea. Just need to keep it from blowing off.

 

[Hexa Fox]

I must admit I just toss a few pieces of wood on top and carry on lol. But yeah the pipe sounds like a good idea. Just need to keep it from blowing off.

My father used anything and everything. Broken off chunks of concrete, locust fence posts, old boards, pieces of firewood, landscaping timbers and all kinds of other ridiculous crap. The problem is if the tarp is not trimmed perfectly for the application it gets tangled in those objects and is like playing hiding go seek. Ridiculous I tell you. I cannot tell you how many times I have had to lift a heavy @$$ locust fence post over our wood pile because that was easier than unraveling it.

 

[esean]

You don't necessarily have to season for 1-2 years. I have sugar maple I cut, split and stacked this March that's perfectly dry and burning great now. I split fairly small, about 4-5" max dimension, and stack it in single rows exposed to sun and wind. Cover with metal roofing, no tarps or anything over the sides. Cleaned the 20' chimney once after burning 24 cords and only got 1/2 coffee can of creosote. Using a newer non-cat stove (Pacific Energy) that I close down completely once the fire gets hot.
I have a friend that sells firewood. It's amazing how many people are just calling him now wanting their firewood supply for THIS winter.

 

[sb47]

You don't necessarily have to season for 1-2 years. I have sugar maple I cut, split and stacked this March that's perfectly dry and burning great now. I split fairly small, about 4-5" max dimension, and stack it in single rows exposed to sun and wind. Cover with metal roofing, no tarps or anything over the sides. Cleaned the 20' chimney once after burning 24 cords and only got 1/2 coffee can of creosote. Using a newer non-cat stove (Pacific Energy) that I close down completely once the fire gets hot.
I have a friend that sells firewood. It's amazing how many people are just calling him now wanting their firewood supply for THIS winter.

I have been selling firewood for many years and people will wait to the last min and then get upset when they can't get what they want.
I have also had people insist on buying wood that looks freshly split and then post a bad review when I told them that wood was to green. They think they know better then the guy that has been selling wood for years. Damned if you do damned if you don't.

 

[MikeRock]

Well, this seems like the time to ask..... We can get free railroad ties, by the semi load, delivered, free, freight free..... Such a deal. They are redoing some lines and taking some out for bike trails....
The big question is, are fifty year old creosoted ties worth burning? My outdoor boiler has the typical 3' stack. The way these stoves are throttled down, it will probably be a creosote factory..... So, price, good......... outcome, questionable. Any comments? I only need forty good ones to cut in half and use to crib up my barn floor so we can rebuild the one bad wall.
God bless,
Mike

 

[sb47]

Well, this seems like the time to ask..... We can get free railroad ties, by the semi load, delivered, free, freight free..... Such a deal. They are redoing some lines and taking some out for bike trails....
The big question is, are fifty year old creosoted ties worth burning? My outdoor boiler has the typical 3' stack. The way these stoves are throttled down, it will probably be a creosote factory..... So, price, good......... outcome, questionable. Any comments? I only need forty good ones to cut in half and use to crib up my barn floor so we can rebuild the one bad wall.
God bless,
Mike

Might be illegal to burn them in some or all states. They stink like hell and are a known carcinogen. There was a creosote plant in Lufkin Tx for decades that had to be shut down and ended up on the federal clean up list.

 

[MikeRock]

I was afraid that the answer would be like that. Now, they say roughly 1/4 of the ties are 'good'. The rest are not structural grade, containing nasty cracks.
What to do with the bad ones is the question..... can't burn them, they would taste icky, can't eat them.... With salvageable ties going for nearly $20 each at the local rural lumber yard, it's hard to pass up on the deal. I'll see I guess...... may get a load and try to sort out the landscape type, one grade below structural.

 

[sb47]

I was afraid that the answer would be like that. Now, they say roughly 1/4 of the ties are 'good'. The rest are not structural grade, containing nasty cracks.
What to do with the bad ones is the question..... can't burn them, they would taste icky, can't eat them.... With salvageable ties going for nearly $20 each at the local rural lumber yard, it's hard to pass up on the deal. I'll see I guess...... may get a load and try to sort out the landscape type, one grade below structural.

Check with your local power company and see if they have or are giving away used power poles. When I built my paramotor fence I was able to go to my city's power company's yard and get all the used power poles I could haul off for free.
Last year they replaced the poles on my street and I stopped and asked what they were going to do with the old poles. They said they would cut them up and throw them away. I asked if I could have them and they said yes. They even brought them to my house and set them over my fence. They came back this year and replaced the poles again, and again I asked about the used poles. Again they brought them to me. Now I have about 20 brand new poles less then a year old to do with what I see fit. I may build me a new pole barn with them.