Finally got my chimney swept. First time since we installed the stove a year ago. All good! Quick details and then back to work for me:
35-ish foot SS flue liner (uninsulated), runs out the back of the Heritage off a T/cleanout, thru a sheetmetal blockoff into the center of a massive 129 yr old three-flue brick chimney (interior). Sweep loved the fact that it was set at a 45 deg angle to the roof peak. Luckily it's on the 9-pitch section and not the 12-pitch. Chimney & liner do a 10 deg offset jog thru the attic.
Since we have a big bluestone cap sitting on 6 brick pillars, he opted to use a poly brush on a long rope, tied to a very heavy wrench, instead of traditional sweeps' poles. My other sweep had wanted to drill a hole in the cap and put his rods thru, so I liked the rope option better.
He got about 3 gal of crusty and powdery crud out. We agreed it was a lot, but not bad in light of having such a long liner, and having pushed 4 cords (2 of them very poorly seasoned, all of them rather wet oak) thru it. Baffle was pristine, and removed w/out issues. Was very clean on top and around the whole upper stone area, where he usually will find creosote buildup.
A handful of construction/packing cement chunks came out as expected - no worries there. Says he sees it all the time and it's never a problem.
We discussed my use of a flue damper - asked if i really needed one, i told him how it performed w/out vs. with, and he agreed it's fine - just something the mfr can't recommend since it's not part of the UL testing. But he agreed we were burning well with it by running wide open for 15-20m every re-load.
And we also discussed my use of BioBricks / Eco-Firelogs as supplement materials, too. Now of course, he works for the hearth shop that sells 'em to me, so he might be a little partial. But from the cleanliness of the upper stove area, we agreed they were doing a good job in cooking the nasty things out down low at least.
Gotta give it up for Mainline Heating in Ashford, CT. Great shop, great guys, great prices, and great products. Could not possibly be happier w/ a business.
35-ish foot SS flue liner (uninsulated), runs out the back of the Heritage off a T/cleanout, thru a sheetmetal blockoff into the center of a massive 129 yr old three-flue brick chimney (interior). Sweep loved the fact that it was set at a 45 deg angle to the roof peak. Luckily it's on the 9-pitch section and not the 12-pitch. Chimney & liner do a 10 deg offset jog thru the attic.
Since we have a big bluestone cap sitting on 6 brick pillars, he opted to use a poly brush on a long rope, tied to a very heavy wrench, instead of traditional sweeps' poles. My other sweep had wanted to drill a hole in the cap and put his rods thru, so I liked the rope option better.
He got about 3 gal of crusty and powdery crud out. We agreed it was a lot, but not bad in light of having such a long liner, and having pushed 4 cords (2 of them very poorly seasoned, all of them rather wet oak) thru it. Baffle was pristine, and removed w/out issues. Was very clean on top and around the whole upper stone area, where he usually will find creosote buildup.
A handful of construction/packing cement chunks came out as expected - no worries there. Says he sees it all the time and it's never a problem.
We discussed my use of a flue damper - asked if i really needed one, i told him how it performed w/out vs. with, and he agreed it's fine - just something the mfr can't recommend since it's not part of the UL testing. But he agreed we were burning well with it by running wide open for 15-20m every re-load.
And we also discussed my use of BioBricks / Eco-Firelogs as supplement materials, too. Now of course, he works for the hearth shop that sells 'em to me, so he might be a little partial. But from the cleanliness of the upper stove area, we agreed they were doing a good job in cooking the nasty things out down low at least.
Gotta give it up for Mainline Heating in Ashford, CT. Great shop, great guys, great prices, and great products. Could not possibly be happier w/ a business.
