Well, I called my local hardware last week and they had a soot eater in stock. I just went to get it and take advantage of 50 degrees in upstate NY and clean my chimney, even though it is not in bad shape. With my roof, I am not about to go up and clean top down. So here is my question. Can I clean bottom up through my clean out door on the masonary chimeny? If so, are there any brand of rods that are more flexible than others? Or, should I jsut order a soot eater and wait. This is my first year burning wood and first time sweeping a chimney.