egclassic said:
firefighterjake said:
I think this is the right time to start thinking about scheduling a cleaning if need be . . . I suspect I'll have a few fires on cooler evenings by the end of next month . . . and I'm starting to see more folks thinking ahead to the heating season as I've seen a slight uptick in the number of woodstove and pelletstove inspections.
I just have a problem payin someone $100+ to do something so easy and that only takes 1/2hour(or less) to do.
In my line of work, we do alot of PM's, and while I agree that a little preventative maintenance goes a long way, you can also over do it.
As far as the inspection part goes, what do they inspect? Theres not much to see. I carry a 200' sewer camera on my truck and I thought about running it down the liner. Is this something a sweep will do also? I have thought about "rigging" up a brush on my camera so that I can actually watch as I clean my chimney, the push rod on the camera is very similiar to the flexible rods.
Cheapskate myself . . . and since I can easily do a sweep from the ground I bought my own brushes . . . however for some folks without ladders, fear of heights, steep roofs, very tall chimneys, etc. it may make sense to hire a sweep who has the equipment and insurance.
Gotta disagree with over-doing preventative maintenance . . . I never yet have heard of anyone here that has thought they sweep their chimney too often . . . on the other hand I have read and personally seen a number of times when the home owner should have cleaned their chimney a little more frequently. That said . . . I sweep my chimney monthly . . . a) because in my line of work I would never hear the end of it if I had a chimney fire, b) it's a 10-15 minute job for me and c) it gives me peace of mind . . . over-kill to be sure . . . but better safe than sorry and I can guarantee you that I will not have a chimney fire.
Inspection . . . you would have to ask an actual sweep what they inspect . . . I suspect they would look for cracked clay liners with masonry chimneys, firmly connected Class A chimneys, etc. . . . When I was talking about "inspections" I was referring to the fact that I am going out and inspecting a bunch of new installs and signing off on old installs for insurance companies . . . we don't actually climb on the roof to do an inspection of the chimney, but just do a basic inspection of the stove and chimney from the ground . . . which is good . . . since I did condemn a woodstove that a lady has used for years -- huge crack in it -- said she only called us since she had moved out and the insurance company didn't require an inspection for her, but did require the inspection for her daughter who was living in the home.