Old timer showed me how to read a flue like a map one time

I was doing a sweep on a 1920s house in Arlington and this guy, must have been 80 years old, walked up and just watched me for a minute. He pointed at the creosote buildup and said 'that there tells you the last guy burned wet wood for three winters straight.' He showed me how the crust layers line up with different burn habits. Never thought of it that way before. Has anyone else had a random stranger teach them something that stuck?

2 comments

2 Comments

cooper.max11d ago

Man I love stories like that @reese_patel. Totally agree with you on the old timer energy part - I'm just hoping I can earn it someday instead of being the guy who still burns wet wood and doesn't know it. Reminds me of that time I thought I knew everything about something and a random person walked up and slapped me with two decades of experience in ten seconds. Makes you feel real small in the best way, you know? My brain's like a flue too - mostly just buildup and questionable decisions on repeat.

reese_patel11d ago

Damn that's wild. I used to just think creosote was creosote, you know? Just buildup you gotta clean regardless. But hearing it's like a logbook of bad decisions is actually pretty cool. Kinda makes me wish I had that old timer energy someday.