Chimeny sweeping/cleaning/'inspection

[BrasilNuts]

Just wondering if any of you guys here have any experience with this. I have not used my fireplace in a few years, but I want to check it out or have it checked before I use it again (I don't know when it was cleaned last). I have no reason to believe that there are any problems and I would like to do it myself.

Any advice?

[poak]

Trust me, if you call a chimney sweep to come take a look at it, they'll want to sell you a butt load of repairs and new flue liners!

Best bet would be to find a mason to inspect it for you.

[BrasilNuts]

I know my way around construction... If he tries to sell me something I don't need he'll be asked to leave. I know it's in good condition, I just think it needs to be cleaned.

[poak]

Cool, if I were you, I'd take the DIY approach then.

http://www.northlineexpress.com/help_chimney_cleaning.asp

[oldogy]

I used an old boy from the Philadelphia area a couple years ago, did a good clean job and was reasonable. He did not try to sell me anything but he is no longer answering his phone.

I had a brush to clean my fireplace at my last place but this roof is too steep and too high for this old boy to climb.

ray, the oldogy

SS liners are expensive but if your chimney shows any deterioration might be the way to go.

Edited January 16, 2009 by oldogy
afterthought

[The Average Joe]

Seriously....

1. Get a long tractor chain...3/8" or 5/8".

2. Tie one end in a knot then put said knot in a tow sack and zip tie it.

3. Seal off the face of your fireplace so soot won't blow out into the room.

4. Get on the roof and drop the tow sack with the chain down the chimney (that's chimblee for those in rural areas).

5. Pull the chain back up and repeat as needed.

6. When you're satisfied with the job, shovel your ashes from the fire place.

That's how my dad used to clean our chimney every year before winter.

We're a pretty resourceful bunch.

[ZenDog]

IANACSBIUTB. (New internet acronym: I am not a chimney sweep but I used to be)

If your chimney is unsafe or malfunctions, it can start a house fire and it might kill you.

I worked as a chimney sweep years ago- cleaned a few hundred chimneys in Kentucky. I was in business for myself.

The age of the house is important- the older the house and the less you know about it, the more I would want to go ahead and spend some $$ to get a professional inspection, but I would also beware of getting sold a lot of crap you do not need.

That said, there are some older chimneys that can eventually get you killed. There can be cracks in the mortar that smoke & flames can pass through, gassing you or eventually setting your house on fire.

Chimneys can have obstructions that can cause them to not draw properly. Once I pulled a very large cooked bird out of a malfunctioning chimney- it was basically charcoal by the time I found it, but it still weighed a few pounds. Blocked the air flow. Big duck or perhaps a goose, I guessed.

Pulled about 10 garbage bags of rotten hay out of another one- a previous owner had decided to block it up. Another chimney actually fell over when I was inspecting it from the roof. It was a 100+ year old house- I pushed my wire brush into it from above and it just came apart and slid off the roof into the yard. I didn't slide off with it, so I was ok. If they had fired that one up without checking it first, I am pretty sure the house would have eventually caught fire- it was a mess.

If someone has vented a really good wood stove into the chimney, it might be coated with a layer of creosote that is really hard to get off. The smoke from good wood stoves is not nearly as hot as smoke from a fireplace, so the smoke condenses more easily and builds up on the flu. It forms a hard slick glazing that can catch fire under the right conditions.

The easiest to clean are metal lined chimeys of 'standard' size. You can buy a wire brush the size of your metal-lined flu. Weight the brush with a couple of pounds, tie a rope to it, and gradually lower it into the flu, using an up-down scrubbing action. Be sure to tape up the fireplace first unless you like to vacuum black crap up from all over your house!

If I had a bare masonry chimney or a very old chimney, I would consider springing for the $$ to get it lined with metal. It is much safer, easier to clean, and a good lining takes care of any masonry problems.

I have been out of the profession for a long time, but my neighbor is currently a chimney sweep, so we have talked shop a bit. But some of my info may be dated.

[analog_kidd]

A few years ago, we converted our fireplace to gas logs. I highly recommend this, especially if you already have gas service. We got "ventless" logs which burn 100% of the gas, so the flue can be closed and all of the heat stays in the house instead of going up the chimney. Plus it's on instantly, and best of all no smoky smells in the house. Our chimney didn't draft very well.

I think the logs cost about $125 and the hookup was about $100. You'll probably pay $100 for calling someone out to sweep your chimney.