I really planned to buy the gear and clean my own chimney this year but a recently broken ankle, and my Bride, changed my mind. It took a while to find a Sweep. there are none in the immediate area. I finally found one in a town about 50 miles away. $120.00. Travel this far is usually $50 but they had another gig in town this morning so they split the travel charge with the other customer. I thought that was quite fair.
A two man team showed up and went right to work. One guy got up on the roof. Two story house. Metal roof. The interior flue looks to run about 15 feet. I estimate the exterior part to be about eight feet above the roof. So, maybe a 25 foot run total. The inside guy laid out his tarps and set up his HEPA filtered vac and started cleaning up my VC Vigilant 1977. The guy on the roof pulled the screen/spark arrestor assembly and started running the brush. Now the last time this chimney was cleaned was when my father-in-law was alive and still living here. I'm guessing about ten years ago. We've been here, and burning, for four winters. (I haven't lit a fire yet this year.) I try to burn pretty dry wood (oak and hickory) with a little bit of cedar and like to burn on the hot side. I've often had stove top temps of over 600 and usually cruise 500 or a little over. I now have one year of Hearth.Com under my belt so have learned a lot. I've got at least a cord of under 20% oak and hickory ready to roll. I have no idea what my Dad-in-law was burning for the 25 years he lived here.
They brushed out a good two gallons (or more) of large, crystallized black flakes. And a lot of black dust. And the inside guy spent a great deal of time cleaning out all the nooks and crannies, and orifices of the stove. The outside guy said the screen was really caked. I was surprised because I've never felt there was a drafting problem. He said the system, though dirty, looked in very good shape, the seals tight and intact. I had replaced the griddle caulk rope late last winter.
They were here a little over an hour. Overall, I'm very pleased with the service. They left the house very clean. I'm going to have them back again after this winter to see what happens over the course of just one season. That will give me a benchmark for future years. He also said that I would save about $20 if I call them in the summertime.
I can't wait to fire her up tomorrow night and see how she runs cleaned out as good as new.
Happy Thanksgiving!
A two man team showed up and went right to work. One guy got up on the roof. Two story house. Metal roof. The interior flue looks to run about 15 feet. I estimate the exterior part to be about eight feet above the roof. So, maybe a 25 foot run total. The inside guy laid out his tarps and set up his HEPA filtered vac and started cleaning up my VC Vigilant 1977. The guy on the roof pulled the screen/spark arrestor assembly and started running the brush. Now the last time this chimney was cleaned was when my father-in-law was alive and still living here. I'm guessing about ten years ago. We've been here, and burning, for four winters. (I haven't lit a fire yet this year.) I try to burn pretty dry wood (oak and hickory) with a little bit of cedar and like to burn on the hot side. I've often had stove top temps of over 600 and usually cruise 500 or a little over. I now have one year of Hearth.Com under my belt so have learned a lot. I've got at least a cord of under 20% oak and hickory ready to roll. I have no idea what my Dad-in-law was burning for the 25 years he lived here.
They brushed out a good two gallons (or more) of large, crystallized black flakes. And a lot of black dust. And the inside guy spent a great deal of time cleaning out all the nooks and crannies, and orifices of the stove. The outside guy said the screen was really caked. I was surprised because I've never felt there was a drafting problem. He said the system, though dirty, looked in very good shape, the seals tight and intact. I had replaced the griddle caulk rope late last winter.
They were here a little over an hour. Overall, I'm very pleased with the service. They left the house very clean. I'm going to have them back again after this winter to see what happens over the course of just one season. That will give me a benchmark for future years. He also said that I would save about $20 if I call them in the summertime.
I can't wait to fire her up tomorrow night and see how she runs cleaned out as good as new.
Happy Thanksgiving!
