A customer's question about creosote buildup made me check my own chimney

I was cleaning a fireplace in a house on Elm Street and the owner asked if the black stuff was normal. I explained it was creosote, but the way he asked made me realize I hadn't looked at my own chimney in over a year. Went home and found a quarter inch of buildup behind the damper. Anyone else get a reminder from a simple customer chat?

3 comments

3 Comments

sage28614d ago

Read an article once that called this "expert blindness" where you know so much about something you assume your own stuff is fine. Totally get what @derek_burns87 means about the cobbler's kids. My own gutters are full of leaves right now while I've been reminding my dad to clean his all fall.

maxb4616d ago

Happened to my buddy who fixes furnaces. He was showing a client how to change a filter, talking about airflow. Got home that night and realized his own furnace filter looked like a grey sweater. Hadn't changed it since the spring. Sometimes you're so busy telling other people what to do, you forget your own stuff.

derek_burns8715d ago

Man that hits close to home. My car's check engine light was on for a month while I kept telling my brother to get his oil changed. We get so focused on helping others we let our own basic stuff slide. It's like the cobbler's kids having no shoes, but for modern life. Your buddy's story is the perfect example of that.