Expert: James Ball - 5/31/2010

Question
I HAVE A 85%GAS EFFICIENT FIRE PLACE. I HAD A WHITE RESIDUE ON THE FIRE WALL I CLEANED IT THE BEST I COULD AND PAINTED IT BLACK WITH AN APPROVED PAINT FOR FIRE WALLS I HAD REPAIRS DONE TO MY CHIMNEY BUT NOW THE RESIDUE HAS REAPPEARED. MY QUESTION IS HOW DO I CLEAN THE WALL AND HOW DO I KEEP THE WHITE FROM RETURNING. THANKS

Answer
Hello Robert, sounds like you are getting water in the chimney, check for missing mortar and fill it and seal all gaps and cracks, be sure to have a good cap and if you are heating/hot water with Natural Gas I would have a local Certified Chimney Sweep www.csia.org, (there you can look up by zip code to find one near you) take a first hand look at what you have they should be able to help.
Hope this helps
James