A chat with a firefighter in Springfield changed how I talk about creosote

I was having coffee with a local firefighter, Mike, after he called us for a post-fire inspection. He said, 'You guys see the slow build-up, we see the flashover. Tell your customers that.' It hit me that I'd been too technical, talking about stages and temperatures. Now I just show them a picture of a chimney fire and say 'this is what we stop.' How do you explain the risk to folks who just want a cheap sweep?

2 comments

2 Comments

dakotab1313d ago

Cheap sweep" folks just see the bill, not the house burning down.

black.laura13d ago

My buddy Mark saved a few hundred bucks on a chimney sweep last fall. The guy barely looked at the flue and said it was fine. Come February, they had a small chimney fire that cracked the liner. The repair bill was over four grand. He learned the hard way that a real inspection matters more than the price.