Why is black liquid dripping from my stove pipe or inside my chimney?

What the glaze is telling you

Smoke that doesn't burn cleanly condenses on cool flue walls as creosote. When it builds up and stays cool, it can liquefy and run — dripping down the pipe, staining the stove, weeping through joints, pooling in the firebox, sometimes seeping through the chimney chase to stain a wall or ceiling.

This runny, tarry buildup is the worst kind — a hard glaze that's highly flammable and difficult to remove. It's exactly the material behind chimney fires, so it's not something to keep burning on.

Why it's happening

Three drivers, usually together: wet or unseasoned wood, which is huge in WNC because green mountain hardwood makes wet, cool smoke; burning too low and slow for long stretches, like a damped-down overnight fire; and a flue that runs cold — oversized, exterior, or uninsulated.

A stove or insert venting into a big old masonry flue without a properly sized liner is a classic setup for this. Cool smoke plus a slow fire equals maximum condensation.

What to do now

Treat it as urgent and stop using the fireplace until it's inspected. We'll sweep the flue, assess how heavy the glaze is — sometimes it needs more than a standard sweep — and fix the cause: right-size and insulate the liner, get you onto dry wood, and coach the burn. Keep working smoke and CO detectors going. Call (828) 545-0525.