Chimney sweeping question

There is no generic answer to a question like this. No two situations are exactly the same. The same fireplace/chimney can be different year to year depending on what you are burning, and depending on the weather. Hubby cleans our chimney on the first Saturday of every second month during the winter. Sometimes there's hardly anything there, sometimes there's some buildup. He cleans it anyway. We sleep well at night.

Theory is a wonderful thing, and so is a degree in chemical engineering. And things should work the way they're supposed to. However, sometimes they don't. When something as simple as having a chimney cleaned can save a home I don't even see where there's a real question on whether to have it cleaned or not.

Many people don't understand what a chimney fire is. It is caused by the buildup of creosote on the inside of the chimney and this buildup catches fire and burns. It burns hot. Sometimes it just burns out the buildup - self cleaning? But sometimes it is burning so hot, maybe it's near an interior wall, and the adjacent wall catches fire. House fire. Why anyone who ever burns wood would dream of risking this by not cleaning their chimney is totally beyond me!

It's like having your annual medical checkup. It's like taking vitamins. It's like avoiding eating Trans fats. It's prevention. A pro-active approach vs reactive.

Just the opinon of a wood-burning old lady who lives with a wood fire nine months of the year - from September until May!

One of the guys I work with is in the process of rebuilding his house now because it burned down. He had a chimney fire. How much is keeping that from happening worth?

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"I don't want everyone to like me; I should think less of myself if some people did."
— Henry James

Yep, and you can have your septic tank pumped every year and change the oil in your vehicle every 1000 miles....it's prevention...they'll be less problematic and last longer if you do these things.

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This is the government the Founding Fathers warned us about.....

Our fireplace is 29 years old and has never needed sweeping.

We clean the flu for the wood furnace that is in the basement once a year in the fall, however the flu for the fireplace is clean and we have burnt 100's of cords of wood the fireplace. How would you sweep a clean flu?

With no fire going, simply look up the flu in the daytime, or shine a light up at night to see if everything is ok.