Why does nobody talk about the real culprit behind most dirty flue calls?

Pulled a brush through a flue last Tuesday in a 1920s house near Dayton and the creosote came off in glossy black flakes the size of potato chips, and the homeowner swore they only burned seasoned hardwood. Got the sweep log from the guy who serviced it two winters back and his notes showed the same glaze, meaning this stack had been building hard crust for at least three seasons. Turns out the whole run was sized for an open fireplace but the family had dropped in a wood insert years back, so the flue was oversized and the gases never stayed hot enough to burn clean. Nothing about the wood or the burning habits mattered, the pipe was just wrong for the appliance the whole time. How many of you check flue sizing against the appliance before you quote a sweeping, and how often does that turn out to be the actual fix?

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holly70919h ago

Waited three seasons for someone to just look at the pipe size? That is wild, an oversized flue on an insert is a recipe for a chimney full of tar.

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