Creosote stain on my roof - please advise

[JB Weld]

We dropped in a woodstove insert last year (Buck 74) and we love it. My old birdcage had a 4 sided pyramid style cap that was a bit too low and it trapped the smoke long enough to allow the creosote to condense and drip down on my roof. I have fixed the birdcage / cap issue, but I am left with a nice 4' wide stain down my asphalt shingle roof (and of course it is on the front of the house!). Mrs. Weld is none too happy about that stain either. Even though only 3 people drive by our house each day and you cannot see our house from the road anyway.

What cleaners are out there that will allow for a relatively easy clean up? Any suggestions?

 

[7sleeper]

Sun and time will take care of it. Much better than fooling around on a roof and potentially falling off!

7

 

[blades]

Really nothing except mother nature on roof. Depending on wall materials a good building wash on the end of a garden hose will help maybe with a little added agitation from a stiff broom. For the next year "DRY WOOD" = #1 way to avoid problem along with hot burns, low smoldering fires cause a build up even with cats. You do not state what your flue is as this can also have an effect.

 

[brenndatomu]

+1 on that ^^^
Ha, blades beat me by a nose, +1 with 7sleepers comment (not that I disagree with anything you said blades)

 

[philoshop]

Go real easy with the stiff broom idea. You can take a few years, or even several years of life out of an asphalt shingle like that.

 

[JB Weld]

Thanks guys for the good advice.

 

[timberjak]

A guy I worked for in college painted his shingles. With a sprayer. Not sure what paint he used but they looked good from the ground.


Timberjak

 

[mainewoods]

If your shingles are black, a can of driveway sealer or roof sealer, like they use to paint trailer roofs, and a small roller will work to hide the creosote stains.

 

[CTYank]

Really nothing except mother nature on roof. Depending on wall materials a good building wash on the end of a garden hose will help maybe with a little added agitation from a stiff broom. For the next year "DRY WOOD" = #1 way to avoid problem along with hot burns, low smoldering fires cause a build up even with cats. You do not state what your flue is as this can also have an effect.

Amen on the dry wood and clean, hot burns. Not just to prevent roof stains (which you might have seen months back) but also chimney fires. It's not a matter of trapping smoke, but of generating none. Smoke is unburnt volatiles, which condense as creosote. If you burn them off at the source, you get much more heat output and lose the creosote. Big win for aerobes downwind, too.

 

[Toddppm]

If your shingles are black, a can of driveway sealer or roof sealer, like they use to paint trailer roofs, and a small roller will work to hide the creosote stains.

I imagine the creosote stains will be black too so it should blend very nicely at least in that spot!

 

[blades]

Was not suggesting broom for roof only on side walls, If you have a light colored roof like mine isn't a lot you can do. Yes there roof coatings -polymers that can be sprayed on to extend life of a roof, generaly used for/ on metal roofs, not asphalt based - there might be some that purpose as well I am just not aware of them. Problem creosote is it is a tar of a type and will bleed through. Sun, wind, and rain does a decent job just takes awhile.

 

[WoodTick007]

Did you tell mrs weld to shut her pie hole and not look at it.....that there is more to life than complaining about everything? Maybe you should bring out the old gas/electric bills prior to installing the wood burner and give her a lesson in economics. If that does not work try one of those dating sites....plenty of women out there who won't complain about a hard working man providing his family with free heat....

 

[Red Elm]

While he might lack a little tact, I've been accused of that myself, I agree with Woodtick. Ask her if she likes being WARM! I didn't know that Arkansas women were that uppity. I thought that was mostly east coast city women.

 

[woodchuck357]

While he might lack a little tact, I've been accused of that myself, I agree with Woodtick. Ask her if she likes being WARM! I didn't know that Arkansas women were that uppity. I thought that was mostly east coast city women.

Man, you should travel more. There aint no place free of picky females!