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What is Glazed Creosote?

Your chimney system works all season long to vent the fires that heat your home. The chimney system endures high temperatures and corrosive materials that coat the inside. If you burn wood in your fireplace, your fire produces more than just smoke and soot, but also creosote. This material is made of mostly tar that can become quite the problem if not routinely removed from the chimney.

What is Creosote

Creosote is produced when organic materials such as wood are burned inside the fireplace. Burning unseasoned wood that often burns incompletely will contribute to even more creosote buildup. Creosote itself is as harmless as soot when removed from the chimney on a regular basis. However, when the fire is smoldered and improper wood is burned continuously, or the chimney system isn’t cleaned regularly, the creosote can become a problem.

The Problem with Creosote

Because creosote is sticky in nature, it builds up easily inside the chimney system. During the offseason, it may not do anything but cause nasty odors in the fireplace opening. During burn season, creosote can become quite dangerous. As the material builds on itself, it can obstruct the chimney flue, slowing the airflow and cause even more creosote to deposit.

As the air slows, the heated air in the chimney heats up the creosote, causing the water inside to vaporize and the material to transform. What’s left when the creosote cools is a hardened glazed mass that is made up mostly of condensed fuel (tar). This brittle material is highly flammable and very difficult to remove.

Removing Glazed Creosote

Regular creosote can be removed from the chimney system in the same way as soot and ash, with brushes and a vacuuming system. Glazed creosote is more difficult to remove. Many amateurs attempt to remove glazed creosote with chisels, chains, and heavy-duty tools—all of these things can damage the lining of the chimney. At Chief Chimney Services, we remove glazed creosote by using an industrial creosote remover that is sprayed or brushed onto the material. As it absorbs the remover, the creosote flakes away and can be brushed off and vacuumed out of the system.

You Can Prevent Glazed Creosote

1. Schedule routine services such as sweeps and inspections. You may not notice a creosote buildup, but your chimney professional will. We will clean it out of the system, and troubleshoot with you to determine the cause.
2. Burn only properly seasoned wood in your fireplace. Avoid burning paper, trash, clothing, or any other material that is NOT wood. The wood-burning fireplace is designed to only burn wood and vent smoke produced by wood fires.
3. Let your fire burn and avoid smoldering hot coals. Smoldering causes wood to burn incompletely, contributing to more creosote buildup.

In order to use your fireplace more efficiently, ask the professionals for recommendations to avoid creosote buildup. When you schedule your service with Chief Chimney Services, you will have the benefit of an expert in the home. Call Chief Chimney Services today at 631-863-2460.

What Is Creosote?

What Is Creosote? The term creosote in relation to fireplaces and chimney occurs when the by-products of wood are not totally burned off and the residue travels in the smoke as a vapor. When it is cooled to a liquid it coats whatever it encounters. The wood-tar substance is a blackish brown sticky gooey oil mixture that builds up on the interior surfaces of your chimney and fireplace. It is extremely combustible. Due to the hazardous nature of creosote and its offensive odor, Chief Chimney Services takes special care to remove it and protect homeowners from fire and toxic gas risks associated with creosote.

The Hearth.com website explains, “Creosote buildup is pretty sneaky. You may not notice it at first but it tends to feed on itself. As it builds up, it restricts the flow in the chimney and/or stove pipes. This slows the smoke on its way out, allowing more time for it to cool and for the creosote to condense and deposit on itself thus further restricting the flow.”.

The fire hazard occurs when it is ignited by a hot fire. Pieces of the built up creosote can also become loose and flake and travel upwards to your roof, or down your chimney into your fireplace and into your home. No matter the direction, the result of burning creosote is no good. A traveling piece of burning creosote can bring on a dangerous and expansive fire.

The inspectapedia website lists these considerations about creosote build up:

• The temperature of the chimney. Consider long low smoldering fires make more creosote that hotter roaring fires
• The wood to sap ratio of the wood you burn, the greener the wood the more moisture and the more creosote
• The moisture content of the wood, wet wood burns more slowly and produces more creosote
• The chimney size, height, location, and construction materials also influence the buildup of creosote.

There are important things for homeowners to understand about creosote that you need to know if you are even considering to attempt to remove creosote buildup yourself. First, without the professional equipment and cameras a chimney professional uses, you are not able to view the entire length of your chimney and therefore you may not be aware of the buildup that occurs out of sight which still puts you at risk. There are two other considerations as well as access. Dislodging the creosote is extremely dangerous for several reasons. First, as you chip away at the creosote you may do damage to the underlying chimney structure. Worse you will be breathing the extremely toxic materials even if you wear a mask. Worst yet, if you dislodge the creosote it may travel in the smoke and downdrafts of future fires and ignite whatever it lands upon.

Creosote inspection and removal is critical to the safety and security of your home and best done by a technician certified by the Chimney Safety Institute of America. CSIA certified technicians know the proper methods, cleaning agent, and tools to keep your chimney unblocked. Chief Chimney Services, Inc.wants to be your chimney professional. Contact us today!