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That Tuesday in February when a 40 year old flue liner gave me a wake up call I won't forget
So last February I had a day in Lansing that started normal and went sideways by 10am. Pulled up to this older two story house, homeowner said she'd been smelling smoke backing up for a few weeks and figured it just needed a good sweep. Went up on the roof, dropped my camera down and saw a cracked clay tile about 6 feet in with creosote packed so tight I could barely get the brush through it. What got me was the soot pattern around the top plate, that glazed shiny look, meaning this thing had been running way too hot at some point. I told her we don't sweep this, we shut it down, and she got quiet and said her husband had been burning cardboard and scraps in there all winter to save on firewood. Had to explain that a cracked liner lets heat straight into the framing and we're not talking about a small repair, we're talking about a real risk. Set her up with a camera printout and a referral for a liner company that afternoon. Any of you run into the cardboard and trash burning thing this much, and how do you get through to folks without making them feel dumb about it?
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