Chimney juice

[Van Chocstraw]

Since I have been burning wood all the time I have a brown stain running down my roof from the chimney. Not that it bothers me that much but what would wash it off with little effort?

[JoeSpareBedroom]

What kinds of wood are you burning? Pine, maybe?

[ransley]

Any chemical strong evough to disolve it would probably damage many types of shingles. I wonder if a chimney fire should be of concern to you.

[Van Chocstraw]

Oak, Ash, Maple and Beach. Why?

[Van Chocstraw]

I clean my stove pipe monthly and chimney yearly, so no, not of concern to me.

[JoeSpareBedroom]

Because pine makes goo in your chimney. I'm not sure if I've burned all 4 of the ones you mentioned, but I've never had a brown stain around my chimney in 35 years.

[Van Chocstraw]

Do you burn around the clock for a straight 8 months?

[JoeSpareBedroom]

Nope.

[Van Chocstraw]

Do you have a cap on your chimney. I put one of those tin caps with a screen on the sides. That may be it. I don't remember that stain the year before.

[JoeSpareBedroom]

No cap on mine. Screened.

[Jim Elbrecht]

-snip-

I did for 30 yrs or so. Never had a brown stain. A stain would concern me as it is an indication that creosote is building up and leaking. Chimney fires are no fun-- or so I've heard.

I burned mostly seasoned hardwoods- but burned green wood in with it on occasion- as soon as I noticed any build-up I'd hold on the green wood until my chimney was clean again. I inspected my chimney frequently, but never had to drag anything through it.

Back to your original question-

I doubt anything will do it 'with little effort' - but your possibilities are limited by whether your roof is tin, galvanized, tile, cedar, asphalt. . . .

Jim

[Don Phillipson]

This depends on the chimney. Chimney fires damage masonry chimneys but ought not to damage modern double-walled metal stacks (UEL-tested to withstand temperatures of about 2000 Fahr., I think: you can easily reach 1000 Fahr. in a chimney fire.)

A chimney fire can seem terrifying, making a loud whoosh like a jet engine and the inner wall glowing red hot (and visible through ventilation holes in the outer pipe.) We had two in 15 years, with no apparent damage, each lasting 5 minutes or less before all the creosote was burned and blown out. Firemen who later checked out the stove and stack told us a fire like this is the fastest way to clean a chimney.

[David Nebenzahl]

On 4/21/2009 6:18 AM Van Chocstraw spake thus:

Are you sure the stain isn't rust from flashing or some other metal around the chimbley?

[Bob F]

I stoke up a hot cardboard fire every couple weeks on a rainy day to clean out the metal liner in my chimney, which seem to keep the creosote from building up to problem levels. The whole process takes about 5 minutes.

It does make some awful smoke at the beginning of this process.

[Van Chocstraw]

The flashing is lead. Could be the metal cap but the black paint still looks good.