Chimney Cleaning?

[frugalwilady]

Since my husbands' Lymes bout, he has been looking to "work smarter not harder" w/ his much limited stamina and balance...He needs to find a homesteader way to clean the chimney from the bottom. I knew this was the place to ask this question cuz I'm sure we're not the only ones having to figure this out!

[Marilyn]

We do that here. There is a bit of a cost outlay at the beginning, then you're set for years and years. Fireplace shops sell fiberglass rod sections that screw together. When you go to the shop have the approximate height of your stovepipe so you will know how many sections that you have to buy. You will also need the diameter of your stovepipe just in case you need a new brush. I assume that he has been cleaning from the top down up to now, so he should already have the brush. You might want to take it with you to make sure that the rods you purchase are "attachable".

Then when you're ready, disconnect or telescope your stovepipe from your stove as high as you can reach. The greater this distance, the easier it will be to work the fiberglass rods in. After you get started, creosote will start sprinkling down, so it's good to secure a trash bag over the open stovepipe, then just keep feeding the rods through a small hole in the bottom of the trash bag.

None of the items are terribly expensive, but if your stovepipe is two stories high plus clearance like ours is, it does tend to add up.

[frugalwilady]

Yup, of course 2 stories, He looked into that and around here the beginning cost is about $120! We're hoping for a "creative" solution for short term till we can invest in a permanent solution.

[buffalocreek]

I use the Sooteater rotary chimney cleaning system. But because of the extreme angle from the stove, I had to get on the roof to clean the chimney, but it did a good job. If you have a sharp angle from the bottom, you won't be able to bend the cleaning rods enough.

[JoePa]

Here's what you do - take a small weight - like a large nut and tie it to a long string - then go outside and keep throwing the weight up and try to get it to fall into the chimney - let enough string loose so that he weight will fall inside the chimney down to the clean out - pull the weight and string out of the cleanout - now go outside again and attach a stronger rope to the end of the string - from inside pull the rope down the chimney and out the cleanout - outside attach a chimney brush to the rope - have someone inside pull the rope and brush down the chimney down to the cleanout -

Now have someone outside pull the brush back up the chimney again - you can pull the brush up and down the chimney as many times as you feel necessary - when your done just pull the rope and brush out of the chimney -

If it works please let me know - professor Schultz

[ET1 SS]

For a few years, we had a house in Scotland with eight chimneys. The gentleman I bought the house from insisted on training me on how to clean a 'Lumm' [Gaelic for hearth/chimney].

Start with a chimney-brush and a bunch of 2 foot handle sections.

Take an old bed sheet, that will forever become dedicated to this one purpose. Cut a hole in the exact center of the bed sheet, about one inch in diameter.

Secure one edge of the sheet, to the mantle, going across the mantle, and hanging down like a curtain to fully cover the fireplace. Lift up the bottom edge of the sheet, and inside the fireplace put the chimney-brush and first section of handle. Thread the handle through the hole in the sheet. Then once again let the sheet hang like a curtain. Set weights along the bottom edge of the sheet to hold it in place.

Now you should be holding the first handle of the chimney-brush, as it pokes through a sheet. The brush is inside the fireplace, while you and the handle are outside the fireplace. The sheet should stop any ash and debris from coming out into the room.

Slowly rotate the brush clock-wise and slide it up into the hearth. Screw on another section of handle. Keep rotating the handle, always clock-wise, as with each added handle section you can reach further up into the chimney.

The sheet will huff out at you a few times, as clouds of ash come down. But it should hold all of the ash, so the room stays clean.

[o&itw]

The only good method is from the roof using 3' fiberglass rods and a chimney brush of the correct size and shape. Some flues are square and some are round... their are different diameters, so you must get the right brush. Most stove flues would be very hard to get in the brush to clean from the bottom.

As far as cleaning a fireplace flue from the bottom (at least a fireplace correctly built for wood) the "hole" above the fireplace is a slot between the "shelf" and the front wall of the chimney and It would be awfully hard to get an 8" or so brush throu that slot and into the flue, especially if one has a proper damper.

I am getting some years on, and I am not crazy about getting up on the roof myself, but I am not confident in any other way of cleaning.

[buffalocreek]

I second what o&itw says. If you can't do it yourself, perhaps you can find a chimney sweep in your area. Money well spent.

[Phil V.]

They make stuff that you can right in fire to help clean the chimney. Most places that sale wood burning supplies will have it and know what you are talking about.

[aimee750]

I have a sooteater, I have used it twice now and am very happy with it. I bought it on Amazon, the kit plus extra extensions for about $60.

[Snowfan]

Or, you could barter that job in exchange for doing something for somebody else. Or trade the service for some home made wine.

[Marilyn]

The chemical that Phil V mentioned works very well and is useful in fireplaces. However, most woodstove manufacturers do not recommend it for use in a woodstove.

[kasilofhome]

As Marilyn addressed how we also clean our woodstove chimney.....addressing cleaning out the woodstove is another step in fire prevention.

With so many stove designs each one is going to be different but it is a job that should not be overlooked.....besides brushes consider following up with a nozzle attached to an air compressor and letting the dust settled before a metal stopgap made for as his used....never consider a stove to be save for a regular shop vac.

[Eco-]

It might be worth a call to your local fire department, in rural VT they always had a couple available that we could borrow for free. It was cheaper for them and the homeowners to have clean chimneys rather than the risk of a house fire or messed up chimney if it was put out wrong with water.

[nate77]

Love my soot eater, but I have a single story house, it might be a different story if you had double the poles to deal with.

[BlackFeather]

Driving down the street one day I saw a frame built over the top of the chimney which had a pulley, rope and a square weight the diameter of the chimney, about 6 or 8 inches thick, hanging about a foot above the top on the chimney, and the rope leading to to a place where it was tied off on the ground. It looked like it worked by lowering the square weight, guided by the frame into the chimney, I presume that one would lower the weight and if it got stopped by the creosote in the chimney one would lift the weight by pulley and rope and let it drop, doing this over and over would break lose the creosote on the side of the chimney. One would continue to lower the weight till it reached the bottom. I am assuming that the weight was a square chunk of steel or possibly lead so that it has sufficient weight to clear the chimney. If your chimney is round I suppose a cylinder just a little smaller than chimney's diameter could be used. Once clean the weight would be hoisted back up and fixed hovering over the chimney and the rope tied off somewhere on the ground.

[GREENCOUNTYPETE]

Originally Posted by Marilyn

We do that here. There is a bit of a cost outlay at the beginning, then you're set for years and years. Fireplace shops sell fiberglass rod sections that screw together. When you go to the shop have the approximate height of your stovepipe so you will know how many sections that you have to buy. You will also need the diameter of your stovepipe just in case you need a new brush. I assume that he has been cleaning from the top down up to now, so he should already have the brush. You might want to take it with you to make sure that the rods you purchase are "attachable".

Then when you're ready, disconnect or telescope your stovepipe from your stove as high as you can reach. The greater this distance, the easier it will be to work the fiberglass rods in. After you get started, creosote will start sprinkling down, so it's good to secure a trash bag over the open stovepipe, then just keep feeding the rods through a small hole in the bottom of the trash bag.

None of the items are terribly expensive, but if your stovepipe is two stories high plus clearance like ours is, it does tend to add up.

we do everything the same , accept I make the hole in the trash bag nearly to top about 3/4 of the way up I rubber band the top 1/4 to the thimble coming out of the ceiling

with the hole further up a lot less that is settling in the bag wants to try and get out the hole


now for the ultimate in lazy I figured out how to attach my 1/2 inch cordless drill so it spun the brush and work them up and down , then add a rod and work that up then add a rod and work that up , mine takes 3 rods to the cap

if you have a stainless steel chimney make sure you use a nylon brush

my roof is a 12/12 pitch and where the chimney is located and how high it sticks out of he roof cleaning from the outside would be best done from a bucket truck or by some sort of circus performer that balances on a ladder on top of another ladder