Heard a homeowner say 'it's just a little soot' and I had to bite my tongue

I was at a job last Tuesday in a old house near downtown, doing a routine sweep for a family that just moved in. The wife comes up and says 'oh it's just a little soot, can't be that bad.' I opened the damper and there was a good 2 inches of creosote buildup, some of it the hard shiny glaze kind. I tried to explain that's not just soot, that's a fire waiting to happen, but she kind of waved me off. It got me thinking how many people really don't understand the difference between light dust and dangerous buildup. I mean, I get it, to someone who doesn't do this every day it probably looks the same. But man, it's frustrating when they think I'm just trying to upsell them or something. Anyone else run into homeowners that think they know better than you about their own chimney?

2 comments

2 Comments

milabaker18d ago

Read somewhere that smoky buildup causes more house fires than people realize.

tessa_kim318d ago

My dad's a firefighter and says grease fires are way more common.