What is wrong with this picture…

[Craig - WI]

Hi all, 

new here and having a problem. We built our house three years ago and have a nice wood burning insert that we run all winter. The wood the first year we used was a bit damp but the last two years I have been using much dryer wood has I have had time to season it. Nonetheless we are still getting a ton of creosote down the side of the stack and I have no idea where to start with 1. Cleaning it off and 2. Preventing it from continuing. 
can anyone give me some advice on this. 
it is LP siding. 

[Squaredy]

Very difficult to tell anything from the pictures.  Maybe you will have to remove a few of those cladding boards and see where exactly the creosote is coming from.  For it so seep out of the cladding there must be an awful lot of it being produced in the flue!  Or could it be the LP boards cannot take the heat and they are making the stuff?

[Stubby]

Is there an insulated double skinned flu behind the cladding ? If so it should not leak . 

[Muddy42]

That looks really odd.  Are you sure the flue is clean, not broken somewhere inside and the liner is connected properly at the top? There appears to be two vents at head height, can you get one of them removed to have a look in? Try looking up at the flue with binoculars when the fire is lit in a range of weathers (rain, cold, damp, wind directions).  Do the same at night with a bright torch, to see if there are any reflections of moisture running down the flue or wall.

[Nopedigree]

It looks more like dirty water marking to me, it being on the lower edge of the boards and also on those two vents. Is there a liner in the chimney? Would be worth a look around the flue outlet, is the staining coming from water washing off soot from the cowl. When it rains does water drip from the stack down the cladding?

 

NoPedigree

Edited March 20, 2023 by Nopedigree
Spelling mistake

[Steven P]

to me it looks like the discolouration is even all the way down - suggests that is isn't 'leaking' through the cladding but something is dripping off the top and running down the wall. If it was leaking through you might see the marks on the edge of the chimney too, and perhaps a definite start to the colouration part way up.

 

Does the top of the chimney slope that way for drainage?

 

Cleaning it off? Paint over the top. 

Prevention - depends what you find out is the cause

 

 

What is your liner by the way? Is it single skinned or insuated?

 

 

 

 

[Mick Dempsey]

Were there any historical murders at your house that the realtor didn’t tell you about? 
 

I think you have to open up those boards and have a look inside to see what’s going on, should be easy enough to see once you can access the flue.

[Steven P]

(reminds me, clear crayon, draw on the walls before I sell and move "LEAVE", that should make the next few coats of paint interesting.)

[GarethM]

Isn't "Red Rum" better, or at the very least chalk body outlines under the carpets ?.

[daveatdave]

is there a top hat or similar on the top of the chimney pot if not when it rains it could be cooling down the top part of the flue to a extent to it forming tar