Coal Soot Problem Outside

I've been burning Kentucky lump in my wood stove with over fire air for about two months now. I just rigged a grate to fit, shake down by hand, and shovel the ash from under it once per day. It burns great with the setup of air from under the grate and the wood stoves secondary preheated air tubes. I get about 3 hours of secondary burn and 12 hr burns with way more heat than I ever did with wood. I am about a ton into it now and really like the setup, except for one small problem.

The problem I have is I am getting a lot of soot under the stack with the snowy wet conditions in Pennsylvania at the moment. It is unfortunately all collecting on my new unsealed concrete patio and getting tracked in the house from the dogs if they get by the misses when they come in. Do you think the soot will permanently stain the unsealed concrete, and does anyone have any tips on getting tracked in soot off the carpet?

I love the setup I have. The Kentucky gives me nice long burns, it's just the mess from the soot collecting in the damp conditions that is becoming a real pain in the butt. I would have thought with the great secondary burns I am getting with preheated secondary air, that I wouldn't have too much trouble with soot outside. I checked the 6 inch chimney that runs straight up from the stove and it is clean as a whistle. I guess I am just blowing all the soot out during a good secondary burn. I know Kentucky can be sooty from reading on here, but I have about a ton left and it burns so good I am hesitant to try another coal. Any advice is greatly appreciated.

A power washer and if necessary some tsp can do alot to clean the concrete, but I would simply put down a sheet of cdx or whatever until you can get it sealed. Concrete is very porous and it can be stained permanently from soot or grapes or many other things.

Thanks dcrane, I might try and cover it once the snow/ice melts a bit. I am worried the damage is already done. I should have got it sealed after laying it, but I did it in September and wanted to wait a month before I sealed it. The cold beat me to it though.

Yes it can stain concrete.

Can you use rain gutters to channel it so it doesn't get to the concrete?

Ditto on the tsp (trisodium phosphate )...just use caution...( common sense)
... it is very effective on oil and grease stains...even soot.... just use rubber gloves keep it off your skin... and try to avoid breathing vapors.
just as important is to rinse it THOROUGHLY with water...(warm)

... I even recommend trying Simple Green full strength... and 1 other produt...Krud Kutter... which I believe is also made by simple green... both are very effective... a lot safer to the user... and pretty cheap

... I'm assuming your concrete finish is broomed or floated being outdoors... let your solution soak in a while... keeping it damp... and scrub with a stiff brush or broom before rinsing

Rockwood, Unfortunately I can't really prevent the soot from accumulating on the patio, as the chimney is almost directly above it. From watching the soot in the snow, it appears that I am blowing soot balls to soot chunks out when the volitiles burn off and they land directly on the patio. If it was being blown on to the patio from the ground or swept off the roof, I think your idea might work.

Thanks guys for the tips on the TSP. I figured I might have to clean with TSP before sealing anyhow, since I had to wait the winter to seal. Hopefully it will do the trick. I am kicking around the idea of acid staining the concrete prior to sealing now. I am guessing I won't be able to get the stains off, so maybe I can get the stains to blend in or add character.

I would have thought with the really nice secondary burn that I wouldn't have much soot, but it must becoming from later in the burn and then blow out each time I reload. I am using Thompson's Kentucky at the moment. It seems to be great to burn (no clinkers, little ash, and the fine ash falls easily through my grate with just a poke), but if I remember correctly Berlin has noted that Kentucky can be rather sooty. I may try a ton of Thompson's Ohio coal and see if it has less soot and how it burns in my rigged up bit burner. If it makes less of a mess, I could always burn it when the weather is damp and dreary and the soot is prone to accumulating and making a mess. Does anyone know if Thompson's Ohio Bit is less prone to soot?

It depends on the setup and the coal as to the soot production. With many hand-fired stoves there will be a bit of soot downwind of the stack, not directly from the flame, but rather it's buildup in the stack that's being slowly blown out of the stack - as it rolls itself up the stack it forms little soot balls kind of like building a snowman.

In some applications the ohio bit may produce less soot, but it too is a sooty coal. When I was firing my hand-fired on a regular basis I only had soot staining on white patio furniture that I left outside in the winter. My deck and brick patio didn't seem to stain, at least noticably, but they were not fresh, white concrete.

Thanks Berlin.

Well I figured out how to eliminate the soot issue, I switched to an anthracite stove I just couldn't take the mess of having our dogs tracking in the soot. I'll most likely be back to burning bit next year. I have a Warm Morning 521 that I am going to use in the garage, but I need to lay up a chimney first. It should be far enough away and downwind so it shouldn't cause a problem.

I have 3/4 ton of Thompson's Kentucky in the New Castle area, that I'll sell for really cheap if anyone wants to give it a try.