Sweeping before liner install necessary?

[80s Burnout]

I will be installing a liner this weekend. The smoke chamber above the damper in the fireplace looks a little dirty - black splotchy stuff stuck to walls. Is that creosote? Anyway, since a liner is going in, does it matter? Should I still sweep it? Thanks.

 

[RedRanger]

We swept ours first. Just seemed like a sensible thing to do.

 

[ScottF]

I would seem to make sense to me too. I would not install a liner in a dirty chimney

 

[BrotherBart]

What you don't want is that hot liner in contact with the creosote setting it off in the confined space of a chimney sealed at the top and bottom with a top plate and a block off plate. Or worse just a top plate with the bottom open.

Scrub it.

I have never seen verification but a story floats around about one that wasn't cleaned before lining virtually exploding with brick flying everywhere. It may not be true but it creates one hell of a mental image.

 

[80s Burnout]

Sounds reasonable to sweep before. Now, I have inspected the clay liner which consumes the last 20 feet of the chimney and it looks nice and clean. It is the smoke chamber above the fireplace (about 5 foot high) and before the clay liner flue that looks dirty. The smoke chamber is pretty big and irregular in shape and size. How do I clean this area? Just scrub like scrubbing the side of a boat? Is there anyway to control the mess with this approach? Or is there a better way to clean a smoke chamber?

 

[BrotherBart]

I used to do it with a garden hoe every year.

 

[80s Burnout]

Wow - this should be interesting. I can't imagine there is enough up there to justify a hoe but I'll give it a try. Maybe big chunks will come down

 

[ScottF]

if not try a wire brush on a pole (duct tape it) or a scraper on a pole or a putty knife on a pole. Whatever works for you. I scraped mine with just the plastic floor sweeping end of a shop vac. it was hard enough to scrape the loose stuff I had plus it vaccumed it at the same time preventing dust below. If its the hard stuff thats a different story .

 

[branchburner]

I found a wire brush at my local Ace that was threaded. I screwed it on to a 3-ft handle and went to town. Man, did I get a lot of junk out of the smoke chamber with that!

 

[fossil]

You're not likely to have an opportunity to sweep it after the liner's installed. Rick

 

[80s Burnout]

Smoke chamber has been swept!!

I got a poly brush and section of fiberglass rod and scrubbed it down. Aside from a stiff neck, this is not hard to do...just takes some patience. Stuff does come right off. Lots of little black crystals. I did open my back door and with a nice draft most of the dust just got sucked right up the flue with just the particles falling down. Seems like most of the stuff feel in behind the damper and into other crevases?? All in all, not nearly as bad as I thought and the stuff came right off.

 

[RedRanger]

I used to do it with a garden hoe every year.

You`re kidding right? What were ya thinking? Reptiles holding up in there? :lol:

 

[fossil]

I used to do it with a garden hoe every year.

You`re kidding right? What were ya thinking? Reptiles holding up in there? :lol:

I thought maybe he was talking about the gal he hired to do landscape maintenance for him. :zip: Rick