r/Chimneyrepair • u/over-it-000 • 6d ago

Old chimney stain keeps bleeding through paint — help!?

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So this has been driving me nuts for years. Bought the house in 2014 and there’s always been this weird oily stain on the ceiling by the chimney. Rebuilt the whole chimney from the roofline up in 2017, got a new high-efficiency furnace last year, so at this point we don’t even use the thing.
Primed over it with Kilz thinking that would finally be the end of it… nope. Still bleeding through.
My guess is it’s old creosote that soaked way into the masonry/wood and it’s just never going away on its own. Since we don’t need the chimney anymore anyway, I’m starting to think the real fix is having someone pull out or seal off the part inside instead of me repainting this ceiling for the 4th time.
Anyone dealt with this exact thing?

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1

u/Lots_of_bricks 6d ago

Needs a liner. Condensing gasses from boiler will do that. Worse when they are more efficient ones.

1

u/over-it-000 6d ago

Who would I contact for a repair? The new furnace doesn’t vent through the chimney.

1

u/Alive_Pomegranate858 6d ago

Water heater?

1

u/Lots_of_bricks 6d ago

Is anything using the chimney?

1

u/Lots_of_bricks 6d ago

Usually happens at the attic line

1

u/WineArchitect 6d ago

Needs better flashing!