What a great feeling to get up on the roof and do it myself, scrubbing to my hearts delight for as long as I want so I know it is as clean as it can be. My first two years burning I paid a service to do it, $100 the first time and $125 the next and they weren't even up there for more than five minutes. Ouch! After that I bought a used brush and three extension poles from a local shop for $40. Much better now!
Cleaning my own chimney
- Thread starter tonelover
- Start date
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This is exactly what I did. Sometimes it is just easier to clean it yourself. Way to take the initiative!
I cant get up on my roof to clean my wood furnace chimney, but had a guy working on my log home restaining the logs. I asked him if he would run a brush down my chimney since he was up on the roof doing some caulking. Was prepared to buy a brush and rods at my local True Value and found they didn't have any in stock.
The manager says, I will rent them to you. I got 5 4 foot rods and a 6 inch brush for a day and it cost, $8. They guy on the roof owed me this since he took much longer to do my house.
Not bad for a cleaning compared to having a sweep do it.
Shipper
The manager says, I will rent them to you. I got 5 4 foot rods and a 6 inch brush for a day and it cost, $8. They guy on the roof owed me this since he took much longer to do my house.
Not bad for a cleaning compared to having a sweep do it.
Shipper
Backwoods Savage
Minister of Fire
Most times cleaning the chimney does not take very long at all so most folks are advised to do their own. Nice that you got yours done without the $125 bill.
firefighterjake
Minister of Fire
It's cheap and it's easy . . . the only negative is if you have to go on the roof in middle of the winter and have a slippery roof. Me . . . I can do my cleaning from the ground which makes this ridiciously easy to do.
Get your brush at a stove shop - they probably have poly brushes. I just did the chimney cleaning for the first time as well and it was no sweat. Had to trim the 6" brush slightly since my SS liner is 5.5" (did not want to get it stuck) but now it's good to go for future years. Definitly worth the upfront investment...
I guess what I was paying is the going rate, but geez, $100+ a year having that done sure cuts in to the savings margin from burning in the first place. I've done it two years now, withr a materials cost of $40. That's what I'm talking about. 
BucksCoBernie
Feeling the Heat
- Oct 8, 2008
- 450
I hate going on the roof so I picked up one of those soot eater brushes that attaches to a drill. Im very happy w the purchase.
firefighterjake
Minister of Fire
heus said:
This has been a debatable point in the past, but it seems as though most folks recommend going with a polyester brush . . . I ordered mine through Northline Express.com and have been quite happy with it.
Backwoods Savage
Minister of Fire
Yes, lots of debate on this subject. Go to the Hearth Room and do a search.
What I went by was asking someone who installs chimneys. He stated that most who use a regular wire brush will have to replace their chimney, usually in around 20 years. Those who use the poly brush do no damage and their chimney will last and last.
Some say that is pure bunk and they might be right. However, for a lousey $15.00, I bought a poly brush.
What I went by was asking someone who installs chimneys. He stated that most who use a regular wire brush will have to replace their chimney, usually in around 20 years. Those who use the poly brush do no damage and their chimney will last and last.
Some say that is pure bunk and they might be right. However, for a lousey $15.00, I bought a poly brush.
https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/41946/ good explanation that changed my thinking
I cleaned my wood stove's chimney for 16 years with a poly brush and my chimney was hart & cooley triple wall. I always cleaned it when the temps were cool, and I never had any trouble with build up or chimney fires. I found the poly brush was less abrasive than wire, but wouldn't be able to say wire would wear out a chimney faster.
Shipper
Shipper
andybaker
Feeling the Heat
Good Job tonelover,
it's all about saving money where you safely can. I put my chimney in several years ago and at first I too had a chimney sweep come out. I saw what they did and thought, hell, I can do that. The only thing I do more is try to see up the chimney with the cap off so I can see if the inside looks good. My old chimney had a chimney fire and the fire ruined the other chimney, if I had started a fire who knows what would have happened. That's when I switched and got an EPA rated insert and SS chimney. I was just up on the roof cleaning mine too. Funny story, years ago I took the wire out of the cap so it wouldn't ever build up with crap and block the exhaust/smoke (although there really isn't any smoke). In several years I've had a couple birds get down the chimney during the summer. I'd open the door, pull the curtains and blinds and open the fireplace door and chase the bird back outside, no big deal. Well, this summer, a few weeks back, I had 10 birds fly down the chimney in one week. My wife finally convinced me to fix the cap. I realise that the wire doesn't cause a problem anyway so I got out the ladder and proceeded up to the roof. While up there I always look around at the roof to see if every things OK. I noticed that the ridge cap at the end of the house was blown off, we get very strong winds here, and there was a 4" hole open to the elements. So I cleaned the chimney and fixed the roof too, with extra roofing cement and longer nails. Weird thing is, if it hadn't been for those birds, I wouldn't have been up there until November. Talk about a god send, lol.
it's all about saving money where you safely can. I put my chimney in several years ago and at first I too had a chimney sweep come out. I saw what they did and thought, hell, I can do that. The only thing I do more is try to see up the chimney with the cap off so I can see if the inside looks good. My old chimney had a chimney fire and the fire ruined the other chimney, if I had started a fire who knows what would have happened. That's when I switched and got an EPA rated insert and SS chimney. I was just up on the roof cleaning mine too. Funny story, years ago I took the wire out of the cap so it wouldn't ever build up with crap and block the exhaust/smoke (although there really isn't any smoke). In several years I've had a couple birds get down the chimney during the summer. I'd open the door, pull the curtains and blinds and open the fireplace door and chase the bird back outside, no big deal. Well, this summer, a few weeks back, I had 10 birds fly down the chimney in one week. My wife finally convinced me to fix the cap. I realise that the wire doesn't cause a problem anyway so I got out the ladder and proceeded up to the roof. While up there I always look around at the roof to see if every things OK. I noticed that the ridge cap at the end of the house was blown off, we get very strong winds here, and there was a 4" hole open to the elements. So I cleaned the chimney and fixed the roof too, with extra roofing cement and longer nails. Weird thing is, if it hadn't been for those birds, I wouldn't have been up there until November. Talk about a god send, lol.
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