wood smell on lined chimney running coal

I smell a wood smell not the tar smell of cresone. It IS summer, My furnace heats hot water and this tends to smell more towards the evening, I am a bit amazed no one could put the finger on it. Its gone on for MONTHS before and after the liner. its impossible to tell if its worse or not. I would THINK since this has gone on a long time we would have been burnt down if it was critical. Chimney people will revisit friday yet they claim its not that...

NO smoke alarm goes off in the room either...everything is confusing

is a wood smell NORMAL with a coal furnace? can something be behind the liner?

djm123456 wrote: ↑

Fri. Jul. 23, 2021 9:36 pm

is a wood smell NORMAL with a coal furnace? can something be behind the liner?

Sure. Probably creosote, wood ash and whatever else was in the chimney behind the liner. Those guys don't scrub the chimney spotless before they run the liner. Time is $.

djm123456 wrote: ↑

Fri. Jul. 23, 2021 9:33 pm

I smell a wood smell not the tar smell of cresone. It IS summer, My furnace heats hot water and this tends to smell more towards the evening, I am a bit amazed no one could put the finger on it. Its gone on for MONTHS before and after the liner. its impossible to tell if its worse or not. I would THINK since this has gone on a long time we would have been burnt down if it was critical. Chimney people will revisit friday yet they claim its not that...

Try opening a basement window and see if it makes any difference. When your stoker runs it needs air, and it will suck it from the rest of the house if it has to.

Liner is in, still smell it but it does go away also....they claimed marks were before liner, another person said mold. I have no clue

That chimney is loaded with creosote.

Rub it with a wet cloth and see what it smells like. Creosote is pretty strong smelling, like liquid smoke.

Rob R. wrote: ↑

Mon. Aug. 02, 2021 6:03 am

That chimney is loaded with creosote.

That's what it looks like to me, also.

It's common for old unlined wood burning chimneys to have creosote seeping through loose mortar and cracked bricks to the outside of the chimney. That's how fires get into the wood framing when that creosote gets thick enough and hot enough to start burning.

My unlined fireplace chimney has some of the same black stains visible up in the attic. Luckily, the fireplace hadn't been used for a couple of decades and the creosote dried out. When I bought the place I had a chimney sweep remove the dried creosote inside the chimney. Then I always made sure to keep a hot fire going whenever we used it so it wouldn't get a wet creosote build up again.

Paul

I only get the smell when I run hot water for a bath. They claim they swept the chimmey. There is ALSO a "double" liner in this...Talk to me.... I understand creosote does not smell like wood. If this wood framing was truly burning HOW COULD IT GO ON FOR MONTHS? Its like it gears up at night AFTER BATH, then will subside. The furnace/stoker DOES have to run occassionally during the day and I DO not seem to smell it then? Still VERY confused, can LINERS be removed and put back in IF in fact I got a DIFFERENT sweep in?

Whats the easiest resolution here? The SAME company would not come in again. I dont know if liners could be taken out and put in. This NOW will not smell till tomorow night most likely when I run the hot water and take a bath,,,,,IF I would happen to consult the BBB on this company , they may have my home shut down till I find a resolution, maybe I am making more drama then there should be.

Some people even said chimneys can smell but not like wood when I burn coal...it DOES subside... dont know.
.

How can I smell creosote with a double liner? ??

djm123456 wrote: ↑

Mon. Aug. 02, 2021 10:03 pm

I only get the smell when I run hot water for a bath. They claim they swept the chimmey. There is ALSO a "double" liner in this...Talk to me.... I understand creosote does not smell like wood. If this wood framing was truly burning HOW COULD IT GO ON FOR MONTHS? Its like it gears up at night AFTER BATH, then will subside. The furnace/stoker DOES have to run occassionally during the day and I DO not seem to smell it then? Still VERY confused, can LINERS be removed and put back in IF in fact I got a DIFFERENT sweep in?

Single or double liner it doesn't matter, if the chimney can leak air into the house. It only means the furnace is sealed to the outside by the liner, so it's safe for running the furnace. However, air may be drawn down the chimney around the outside of the liner and into the house through a gap in the chimney mortar or crack in the bricks/blocks. Having what looks like creosote stains on the outside of the chimney shows that there a possibility of those gaps, which are common in unlined chimneys.

"Cleaning" a chimney does not get rid of all the creosote. At best, it only gets the thickest built up, which is what can cause a chimney fire. But small amounts of creosote get left behind in thin layers where the brushes can't reach well. That is not a danger for a chimney fire. However, it only takes a small amount of creosote and damper weather to make a real strong wood smoke smell! And light amounts of creosote smells like wood, whereas a heavy buildup (that was probably cleaned out by the liner company) has the strong tarry stink.

Another clue is. When you run a lot of hot water in the bathroom it will cause convection currents that draws in air from a cooler source. That source may be air leaks from around window and door frames, and/or, by way of small gaps in base boards and crown moldings.

When your not heating up the bathroom there is no convection currents created to draw in the smell.

Paul

This is the BEST response, it then goes away, its not a danger and I guess there is NO way to get rid of it.! Paul you seem to be right on target. Some people said when chimneys run in the winter it can help it move upwards there are so many theories NO my chimney is NOT loaded with cresone cause I would hae been burnt down MONTHS ago. My work was done by a reputable company its a bit upsetting the smell is not gone and i dont know what further I can do here other than live with it.

since the liner is in and its an OLD house, there is NO way go get the wood smell out when my stokerfires up?