Chimney cleaning/possible busted chimney

[briv]

Hi Everyone! Love reading these boards and I have learned A LOT of information. It's great that everyone is willing to share their knowledge.

I just had my chimney's swept this past weekend and there were a few things that concerned me and I'd like to see if I could get some opinions from the members. The chimney sweep did all three flue's (oil furnace, 1st floor open fire place, basement buck stove insert). Oil furnace flue was fine, 1st floor flue was fine, basement flue was not so fine. He pointed out the "shiny" creosote on the upper part of the terra cotta tiles and said that he would most likely need to do a chemical cleaning as it did not come off with a brush. Is this a common practice or will the creosote eventually come off if hit with more elbow grease?

He also hit another snag in that he could not get his brush all the way down the basement flue. It went half way and then stopped, presumably where the basement flue bent around the 1st floor flue. He tried from the basement up and the same thing, stopped. Should I be concerned with this even though I get a good draft from the basement? I would assume I need to tear apart the chimney to make this repair but could i repair just that one section or will the entire chimney need to be repaired/replaced?

I would appreciate some advice/input. I did get some input from my grandfather on cleaning the chimney, he said "get on your roof with the garden hose, stuff some newspaper down the chimney and light it on fire. That's how we used to do it." I'm pretty sure he was kidding but I'm also pretty sure that his father DID do it.

 

[firefighterjake]

Hi Everyone! Love reading these boards and I have learned A LOT of information. It's great that everyone is willing to share their knowledge.

I just had my chimney's swept this past weekend and there were a few things that concerned me and I'd like to see if I could get some opinions from the members. The chimney sweep did all three flue's (oil furnace, 1st floor open fire place, basement buck stove insert). Oil furnace flue was fine, 1st floor flue was fine, basement flue was not so fine. He pointed out the "shiny" creosote on the upper part of the terra cotta tiles and said that he would most likely need to do a chemical cleaning as it did not come off with a brush. Is this a common practice or will the creosote eventually come off if hit with more elbow grease? Most folks I've read about in the past need the chemical treatment . . . some folks have used TSP or used chemical additives in the fire (spray or powder) to help convert the shiny creosote over to brush-able creosote . . . that said . . . this is only what I have read and gleaned from this site . . . no personal experience dealing with the shiny (and very bad) creosote.

He also hit another snag in that he could not get his brush all the way down the basement flue. It went half way and then stopped, presumably where the basement flue bent around the 1st floor flue. He tried from the basement up and the same thing, stopped. Should I be concerned with this even though I get a good draft from the basement? I would assume I need to tear apart the chimney to make this repair but could i repair just that one section or will the entire chimney need to be repaired/replaced? I guess I would want to know what is blocking this . . . is it a good, hard deposit of creosote, bricks or tile that have come loose, design of the chimney, etc. . . . did the sweep attempt to scope the chimney with a camera at all?

I would appreciate some advice/input. I did get some input from my grandfather on cleaning the chimney, he said "get on your roof with the garden hose, stuff some newspaper down the chimney and light it on fire. That's how we used to do it." I'm pretty sure he was kidding but I'm also pretty sure that his father DID do it. He's most likely not kidding . . . old timers here used to stuff straw into their chimneys and touch it off to burn off the creosote . . . of course they also tended to have a lot more house fires for some odd reason.

 

[briv]

Thanks, I will look into chemical cleaners.

The sweep did not scope the chimney. I am going to lean toward brick/block debris or poorly installed flue judging by the way the terra cotta tile was shifted 2+ inches out of line at the top of the chimney. I'll have to get it scoped to be sure though.