Chimney cleaning question

[jeffee]

Thanks to all who gave me feedback about my wood stove choice.
Looking ahead, I know I'll need to clean from the bottom up, as my new metal chimney will be going straight up, and it will need to stick up about 10 feet above roofline. I'm assuming I'll have to disconnect the stovepipe (double wall, telescoping) which will connect to a support box. This will give me access to do the job, right? How about checking and/or cleaning the chimney cap? How would this process be done?

I'll probably have a chimney sweep do it the first time so I can learn to do it correctly, but I'd like to have a general idea of how it would be done. Thanks in advance for any info.

 

[jeffee]

Sorry if this is a dumb question; I have very little knowledge about wood burning except for reading this excellent forum for the last week or so. I'm really curious as to the chimney cleaning process in a situation like I will have, where the chimney doesn't come out at the peak of the roof, and unlike a masonry chimney a ladder can't be leaned on the metal chimney. How would one go about checking and/ or cleaning the top and chimney cap?

 

[Michael6268]

From the sounds of it your best bet will be from the bottom up. Depending upon what kind of cap you have you may not have much of an issue with build up. You may be able to look at the cap and make a conclusion from the ground or with binoculars if needed. If you do need to access the cap or work from the top, I would think all you would have to do is unlock and remove the uppermost chimney section and then you should be able to reach the rest and clean the cap and top chimney section on the ground. You may have to deal with the support rods too that I assume they used if you chimney is ten feet off the roof.

 

[jeffee]

Thanks Michael.
Another dumb question: How would I take a peek at the chimney? The stove pipe will be a double wall telescoping one. I'm not sure how they work -- do they all lock to whatever length you're using with screws? Would it be easier to disconnect the stove pipe at the bottom where it connects to the stove, or the top where it connects to the chimney? Again I'm thinking ahead here -- I know that I'll want to occasionally check visually on the chimney, just to be safe.

 

[coppermouse]

The cap is where it is coolest and meets the outside air and most of your buildup will be. that will need cleaned the most. Take it off and clean it with a wire brush on the ground.
Why would you want to clean form the bottom up??
I have a almost exactly the same set up to what you are describing.
Here is how I do it.
Typically the chimney is in 3 foot sections. disconnect and remove the stove pipe inside the house, tape a trash bag over the opening where the stove pipe meets the chimney inside the house.
Go on the roof and remove the chimney sections one at a time from the top and bring them down till you can safely get a brush in.
brush it out.
Clean the removed sections and the stove pipe on the ground.
reassemble

I hope this was helpful.