Very surprised no one died in this house! Chimney blocked 🚫. Could have went south real quick. Good save Steve 👏! Hi to Miss Molly the working wonder dog!
My god Steve, you’re definitely a real master at your trade(s). Going above and beyond for your customer. I know many HVAC contractors who wouldn’t touch that shit show with a ten foot pole. Customer got a heck of a deal IMO. Earned every penny today. 😊👍
Have to wonder if that other guy would follow through with replacing it. And if he did, he'd have to clean out the chimney and pipe. All that soot might add to the weight of the boiler to transport out. Would be a messy job even if he made bank on the job.
Friends, I walk into my local Cumberland Farm, I grab my items and who do I see right there in front of me ?..Yep, Steve Lavimoniere. I tell him, "you do know you are an internet superstar with many of us out here". He looks at me like I have three heads and Im in his way!!!.. Cant tell you how much wisdom and joy this channel has brought me. Seeing the big bossman on the road was a highlight of 2022 !
I watched one of your videos on troubleshooting a furnace. You saved me huge. Thank you for sharing your knowledge. Really you helped our family huge. Thx
Steve have him install louvered doors so the air can get in and you don't see the furnace. I lived in a house similar to that one and the furnace was in the downstairs "rec" room in a small closet like room and it had two louvered doors on it that could be easily opened for servicing the furnace.
Great job Steve getting the boiler up and running. Plugged chimney, plugged boiler, and doors in place blocking make up air. Excellent service and repair!!!!!
yes i agree louver bifold doors are definitely needed because its not a finished closet so they are going to want doors on there. that should work beside having to clean them all the time
Hey Steve, I had a few where the people call me up for all the little stuff like running the oil tank dry, etc, when they in trouble, and then they need a boiler or oil tank and have someone else do it without even calling to get a price from me. Then they have issues with the new boiler and call me to bail them out because they cannot reach the guy that installed it.. LoL! Sorry, I'm busy!
Damn I haven't seen you do one that crusty in a long time. Yee Haa. I didn't think you were going to get those last two baffles out for a minute. Almost like they were frozen in concrete. You da man Steve.
Brings back memories as a kid cleaning these with my dead. dang vacuum got heavy by end of day and soot in every orifice 😜. Worse one i saw was an old cast iron one that wasn’t cleaned in over 10 years. brother and i worked on it all day, guy spent a fortune that day in repairs and finally broke down and bought a new one from us. Complained about cost and 2 months later called to say “what a difference and saving him $$) Duhhh. clean once a year and have inspected- can make a world of difference worried about ya not having mask over your nose and all with that soot. stay safe
Good job Steve, top quality entertainment, I would suggest wearing a mask when doing that type of work, I know the boiler doesn't have covid but you might have breathing trouble or be congested afterwards. Good job again.
Its a little kick in the azz when a customer calls u for the hard chit and gives the gravy to other people it dont happen to me to often but when it does i usually dont do work for them anymore and if i do it cost them
Yeah had a farm quit buying fuel from us and in the winter when his heating oil tank for his shop ran out called me to fill it. Fill it up and a year later after getting nothing from us called me again when the tank ran out. I asked him why didn't he call the company he's been getting his fuel from and he said he did and they were too busy to get to it. I told him sorry I'm to busy to go out of my way to get to it as well.
I noticed that Mr. Grinch and Miss Molly were keeping each other Company while you were cleaning that mess if a boiler and flue. It reminds me of a 30,000 BTU Wall Furnace that I had to clean out due to a very dirty pilot. I cleaned the heat exchanger outside and then tacked the standing gas pilot light.
Steve, that had to be one of the worst plugged up boiler and chimney I ever saw you do ! What a Flippen mess. Better make sure you charge enough for that dirty job Steve. Hope those people know how lucky they are to have a Professional, honest guy like you.
Got that right. i have cleaned many when i was younger and still help my family out when i am home but this is one of the worse. other one was a furnace not cleaned in over 10 years. 4 hours to clean that sucker. too old for that now. 😛
Those inserts tighter then 2 coats of paint. Not a fan of the verticals inserts. Soot up way to easy. I like the horizontal ones better. Most of the carbon goes in the flue pipe. This is what keeps us making money and busy. Good work Steve. Just started doing oil services this heating season. I don’t mind cleaning soot but the oil smell really sucks. Now all my tools smell like oil. Other then that I learned a lot from you. Thank you for passing your knowledge to us new guys.
I can understand why people continue to call you back to do work for them. You do things correct and your not afraid to get dirty. I started watching you videos not long ago and you work on a lot of old, nasty systems. Very cool to see you work. Keep it up and thanks for sharing!
i was thinking the same thing. last season i smartened up (25 years old been in the field 6 years) and started wearing a good mask doing this sort of thing... still probably not going to make up for all the years of crawling through abanded pipe asbesdos lined crawlspaces ive found myself in
Hey Steve and Miss Molly! Workin’ again y’all. 👍👍. You deserve combat pay cleaning that flippin’ mess. That was unbelievable! Maybe they could put in some louvered doors to get better airflow.
Do America have not something similar like the chimney sweeper here in Germany to prevent neardisaster like this? The chimney sweeper send us every year a card with a date where we have to be at home and the he checks everything what‘s connected to the chimney and he also cleans the chimney if it is dirty inside.
Yes , we do have chimney sweep services that reccomend sweeping be done once a year for both heating equipment flues and fire place flues. The problem is,homeowners like this home ignore regular maintenance . That was MANY YEARS of soot buildup caused by lack of maintenance.
Holy $#!+, that's crazy! There must be a fire place or something else dumping into that chimney? You know that was like that for a long time. Crusty for sure! That's gotta be one of the worst you've seen?
This episode could have been named “Soot in the Closet”.😂 A $1500 job if I’m doing this one. Then I would tell the landlord he needed a new collector hood, order the part and come back for another $250 install plus cost of part. Can’t let things go for that long and not expect to pay!
How do people go so long without servicing the equipment that’s literally keeping them alive. Show your equipment some love, and maybe it’ll show some back.
that was a bad one.. hard to believe it was running with that much crap in the chimney ... that chimney needs to be brushed out too i bet theres another 5 gallon bucket on the walls of it... you've been getting a couple bad ones lately
No, there's not. Soot comes from lack of combustion air, plugged nozzle, the fuel pump not working properly ( fluctuating pressure/low pressure or cut off failure) or the burner wasn't set up properly to begin with. In this case the chimney was blocked BUT it looks like the burner was not set up properly at the last maintenance, whenever that was, and caused the chimney base to plug up too.
Very surprised no one died in this house! Chimney blocked 🚫. Could have went south real quick. Good save Steve 👏! Hi to Miss Molly the working wonder dog!
Not likely with oil. You smell it way before that, in most cases. Gas is another story.
This was very dangerous situation 😢😢😢
I busted up laughing when he knocked the shelf over and kept walking. 😂
My god Steve, you’re definitely a real master at your trade(s). Going above and beyond for your customer. I know many HVAC contractors who wouldn’t touch that shit show with a ten foot pole. Customer got a heck of a deal IMO. Earned every penny today. 😊👍
The other guy said he needs a new boiler. What he really meant was he didn't want to make the effort to fix what was there.
Have to wonder if that other guy would follow through with replacing it. And if he did, he'd have to clean out the chimney and pipe. All that soot might add to the weight of the boiler to transport out. Would be a messy job even if he made bank on the job.
Friends, I walk into my local Cumberland Farm, I grab my items and who do I see right there in front of me ?..Yep, Steve Lavimoniere. I tell him, "you do know you are an internet superstar with many of us out here". He looks at me like I have three heads and Im in his way!!!.. Cant tell you how much wisdom and joy this channel has brought me. Seeing the big bossman on the road was a highlight of 2022 !
I watched one of your videos on troubleshooting a furnace. You saved me huge. Thank you for sharing your knowledge. Really you helped our family huge. Thx
I rarely leave comments, but man I've learned so much from you over the years. Appreciate your knowledge & thank you.
good one. seems a little refractory cement around the pipe going in the chimney would help it pull
Steve have him install louvered doors so the air can get in and you don't see the furnace. I lived in a house similar to that one and the furnace was in the downstairs "rec" room in a small closet like room and it had two louvered doors on it that could be easily opened for servicing the furnace.
Great job Steve getting the boiler up and running. Plugged chimney, plugged boiler, and doors in place blocking make up air. Excellent service and repair!!!!!
Man you sure do earn your keep.
That is one great job of hard work.
All the best Steve.
I think it's safe to say '' That ain't no Taj Mahal Mama '' Good job Stevie Boy ...
You can put louver doors in place of the solid doors. Also, don’t you need to replace the grout around the vent pipe at the chimney?
yes i agree louver bifold doors are definitely needed because its not a finished closet so they are going to want doors on there. that should work beside having to clean them all the time
Lack of maintenance, lack of maintenance! Good job Steve!
Hey Steve, I had a few where the people call me up for all the little stuff like running the oil tank dry, etc, when they in trouble, and then they need a boiler or oil tank and have someone else do it without even calling to get a price from me. Then they have issues with the new boiler and call me to bail them out because they cannot reach the guy that installed it.. LoL! Sorry, I'm busy!
If you are peed off not getting the money jobs you should reflect you displeasure in your price 🤬
Damn I haven't seen you do one that crusty in a long time. Yee Haa. I didn't think you were going to get those last two baffles out for a minute. Almost like they were frozen in concrete. You da man Steve.
Everything fell out of that chimney but Jimmy Hoffa, and Santa Claus!
thanks for the vid steve and molly. when they call you 2nd you charge them the special customer rate 😉.
Cool! I got that same boiler. I also was an idiot and neglected maintenance for like 5 years. There was soot but nothing like that.
Nothing better than watching you work after my own long work day. Oil burner trouble shooting is most entertaining.
Brings back memories as a kid cleaning these with my dead. dang vacuum got heavy by end of day and soot in every orifice 😜.
Worse one i saw was an old cast iron one that wasn’t cleaned in over 10 years. brother and i worked on it all day, guy spent a fortune that day in repairs and finally broke down and bought a new one from us. Complained about cost and 2 months later called to say “what a difference and saving him $$)
Duhhh. clean once a year and have inspected- can make a world of difference
worried about ya not having mask over your nose and all with that soot. stay safe
Hey good work tough guy! i like your accent its cool, i also like seeing repairs so i can figure shit out, i hate paying others to do my house.
Can never charge enough for that sort of work. :(
Does the vent pipe need to be sealed with refractory mortar going into the chimney?
That was a mess. Good job getting it back in service.
You know Steve I wish I knew a guy like you ❤Milwaukee, WI.
I agree. I am surprised someone didn't die in that house.
Waooo you just saved this boiler life ! Very nice job
Good job Steve, top quality entertainment, I would suggest wearing a mask when doing that type of work, I know the boiler doesn't have covid but you might have breathing trouble or be congested afterwards. Good job again.
A agree about the mask. Fine soot dust can get airborne and not good to breath.
Oh my god !! I’m just speechless - thanks for the video ❤️ to Miss Molly
Steve Lav the Magic Man! Turning boat anchors in to functioning boilers!
Its a little kick in the azz when a customer calls u for the hard chit and gives the gravy to other people it dont happen to me to often but when it does i usually dont do work for them anymore and if i do it cost them
Yeah had a farm quit buying fuel from us and in the winter when his heating oil tank for his shop ran out called me to fill it. Fill it up and a year later after getting nothing from us called me again when the tank ran out. I asked him why didn't he call the company he's been getting his fuel from and he said he did and they were too busy to get to it. I told him sorry I'm to busy to go out of my way to get to it as well.
SOOT CITY! It looks like someone should have called a lot sooner. Steve had more 'wows" than Chris Rock, when that sight of jam packed soot hit him.
I noticed that Mr. Grinch and Miss Molly were keeping each other Company while you were cleaning that mess if a boiler and flue. It reminds me of a 30,000 BTU Wall Furnace that I had to clean out due to a very dirty pilot. I cleaned the heat exchanger outside and then tacked the standing gas pilot light.
I'm guessing the filter in your vacuum is pretty much blocked
As much as Mikey Pipes likes to talk about you I am convinced he has a crush.
Steve, that had to be one of the worst plugged up boiler and chimney I ever saw you do ! What a Flippen mess. Better make sure you charge enough for that dirty job Steve. Hope those people know how lucky they are to have a Professional, honest guy like you.
Got that right. i have cleaned many when i was younger and still help my family out when i am home but this is one of the worse. other one was a furnace not cleaned in over 10 years. 4 hours to clean that sucker. too old for that now. 😛
Do you need to seal up where the smoke pipe goes into the chimney?
I'd see if they can retro fit the doors with air vents/grates for the bottom 2'. Paint it white. You've got air flow plus your 'decorative' touch.
Those inserts tighter then 2 coats of paint. Not a fan of the verticals inserts. Soot up way to easy. I like the horizontal ones better. Most of the carbon goes in the flue pipe. This is what keeps us making money and busy. Good work Steve. Just started doing oil services this heating season. I don’t mind cleaning soot but the oil smell really sucks. Now all my tools smell like oil. Other then that I learned a lot from you. Thank you for passing your knowledge to us new guys.
we never would have left the burner as dirty as it was and we always cleaned the filter housings.
I can understand why people continue to call you back to do work for them. You do things correct and your not afraid to get dirty. I started watching you videos not long ago and you work on a lot of old, nasty systems. Very cool to see you work. Keep it up and thanks for sharing!
That’s one guy that can put his foot on anything
Great job Steve!
She's a sooty one Mr Grinch! Oh mama!!🤣
When the time comes to retire that vacuum it should be displayed next to the Top Gear Hilux
Doors will end up reinstalled and another soot call will follow in the future. Lol
Didnt look like a chimney cap was on either so leaves will fall in andmayge racoons will make a nest and block it again
steve, you're a good man, bud. Love the vids!!
Looks like it needs a chimney sweep that could cause a fire 🔥
I'm surprised you don't wear a mask for that. Good video as usual.
i was thinking the same thing. last season i smartened up (25 years old been in the field 6 years) and started wearing a good mask doing this sort of thing... still probably not going to make up for all the years of crawling through abanded pipe asbesdos lined crawlspaces ive found myself in
my oil burner sooted up ,just put a chimney cap on in the fall,could that have caused it ?love your work
I'm surprised you didn't call this episode "Oil Boiler from Hell" hahahahah 😄
Afternoon Steve, from the U.K..
Hopefully this was the last cold snap Mr Steve. Good news is another oil burner video before spring.
Oh my gosh. That chimney is completely blocked. That's very dangerous.
Wow, just wow! You’re gonna need a new soot vac after this cluster f.
Steve the Chimney Sweep Momma!!! Better get the ol' top hat!
I keep a long handle kids shovel like they use in a sandbox for digging out the flue
Maybe customer didn’t know Steve does tanks, giving benefit of the doubt. Particularly, since Steve works alone. But what do I know. 😁
Hey Steve and Miss Molly! Workin’ again y’all. 👍👍. You deserve combat pay cleaning that flippin’ mess. That was unbelievable! Maybe they could put in some louvered doors to get better airflow.
Charge them good for letting it go that long. Keep up the good work Steve.
Do America have not something similar like the chimney sweeper here in Germany to prevent neardisaster like this? The chimney sweeper send us every year a card with a date where we have to be at home and the he checks everything what‘s connected to the chimney and he also cleans the chimney if it is dirty inside.
Yes , we do have chimney sweep services that reccomend sweeping be done once a year for both heating equipment flues and fire place flues. The problem is,homeowners like this home ignore regular maintenance . That was MANY YEARS of soot buildup caused by lack of maintenance.
People need to service their boilers, heating systems yearly!
Dogs and t&m are the best.
HOLY BEEPING CHRIST !! ,P.S. Yor hoover needs the filter cleaning by the sounds of it great job as always tho
Steve you need to be wearing a mask for that crap. Tell that guy to get chimney sweep to clean that out good. Stay safe. 👍
This Guy is Awesome 😎👍💪
Was wondering why the pipe going into the chimney was not re- grouted around the outside of the pipe meeting the cinder block ?
Holy $#!+, that's crazy! There must be a fire place or something else dumping into that chimney? You know that was like that for a long time. Crusty for sure! That's gotta be one of the worst you've seen?
OMG! Looks like you're going to need a bigger vacuum ! 🦈🤣
You really need to put your name and Info on the back of the "HOUSTON WE HAVE IGNITION" Tee shirts. I would buy it in a heart beat.....
Holy Shit!
Take a picture of that mess and send it in to 'Boiler Today' magazine!
Is all that ash from the furnace or also from a fireplace on a floor above?
Needed a cover on the roof, to stop stuff falling down the chimney.
No combustion test?
Hello Steven!
Hell of a job.
This episode could have been named “Soot in the Closet”.😂
A $1500 job if I’m doing this one. Then I would tell the landlord he needed a new collector hood, order the part and come back for another $250 install plus cost of part. Can’t let things go for that long and not expect to pay!
Nice job maybe that boiler should get its combustion air from outside
No chimney cover?
Some nice louver doors would be a great change
yar gonna get cansa using your portable windmill there.
Holy shit momma!!! That chimney has draft issues......
Wow lack of maintenance next level
Guy should have louver doors on that room!
Next level plugged
I think you need to charge double pay for that job...
They needed to call Steve AND Mary Poppins!
How's it going Steve?
How do people go so long without servicing the equipment that’s literally keeping them alive. Show your equipment some love, and maybe it’ll show some back.
might i suggest to the land lord cut the doors and put in vents so it doesnt look ugly and it can still breath
Where are you located?
My guess is that the boiler wasn’t touched for a long long time. Maybe even 2015 when you were last there.
You should have checked the stack temp after you left out some turbulators
our box crusher is named Harris. we're all crazy Americans. That's what we do. You can fill in the lines. I'm an Eagle Scout in BSA.
What make and model vac do you use?
Most likely the regular soot master like most of us have
Are Chimfex Fusee's still sold/available??
Hi Steve and miss Molly
that was a bad one.. hard to believe it was running with that much crap in the chimney ... that chimney needs to be brushed out too i bet theres another 5 gallon bucket on the walls of it... you've been getting a couple bad ones lately
Plugger, hate those calls when the only time you hear from them is when it quits yet they yup you when you tell them to service it regularly
There's something you can mix in the oil that will prevent black soot.
No, there's not. Soot comes from lack of combustion air, plugged nozzle, the fuel pump not working properly ( fluctuating pressure/low pressure or cut off failure) or the burner wasn't set up properly to begin with. In this case the chimney was blocked BUT it looks like the burner was not set up properly at the last maintenance, whenever that was, and caused the chimney base to plug up too.
Amazed we didn't hear about everyone in that house dying from carbon monoxide