What'dya think I'd pay for the supplies

[soupy1957]

What'dya think I'd pay for the supplies I'd need to give my chimney a proper cleaning?

And while you're answering that, answer this please...........do you clean the OUTSIDE of the cap and pipe where it has turned black, or not bother?

-Soupy1957

 

[wendell]

How much chimney ya got?

 

[madrone]

I paid around $50 for 16' of rods and a brush. I clean bottom up from the T, specifically to avoid going up on the roof. I don't care about the soot on the screen. It doesn't seem to build up in any appreciable way. If it was clogging up, I'd certainly go up for a quick once over.

 

[cmonSTART]

You can get a homeowner grade set of rods and a brush for pretty short money. $50 or so sounds good.

I brush the outside clean, but my customers are paying me to. :cheese:

 

[summit]

10-20 bucks a rod (6' length). 20 bucks for a brush. scrub off the clingy stuff on cap, but don't worry about color.

 

[PapaDave]

Just got a new 6" poly brush for about $15, and the 4' rods are usually about 7-7.5 apiece. The math is on you, Soupy.
I only clean the creo build up, not the stains.

 

[soupy1957]

15 Feet of stove pipe to the top.............

I have a very short 45º turn in the attic (maybe a foot or less shifting of the pipe).......these brush setups flex do they? I'm wondering if I need some sort of UV joint for the rods or if they have enough "give" in them to make the turn.

Seemed logical to go from the top down ("use gravity to your advantage" has been a motto of mine, no matter WHAT I'm doing), and let the ashes accumulate in the stove; then clean it out from there.

-Soupy1957

 

[summit]

most rods will flex around a 45.

 

[Delta-T]

get the poly brush head, tie a rope to it, get up on the top, toss the rope down (you may need a lil weight on it), and pull. If you want to do extra super-duper job, tie the brush head into the middle of the rope, have someone pull down and then you pull up, lather, rinse, repeat as necessary for shiny, silky smooth hair.

 

[cmonSTART]

rope and a brush works fine too. Washes and conditions all in one step.

 

[fossil]

I don't like going up on my 7/12 pitch tile roofs. Aw, hell, anymore I don't even relish a 6' stepladder. So I thought I'd give the Gardus Soot Eater a try. I'll never go back. Some may say it's a bit tedious to keep adding rod sections as you go up and taking them off again as you come down, but I don't have a problem with that, and you'd have to do that from the roof anyway, just with longer sections, maybe. Some may say that they can't believe the thing is as effective as a conventional chimney brush, and I say that as far as I'm concerned it's every bit as effective (possibly even more effective, as it's constantly rotating as it travels up and down the flue). I find the tool very easy to use and very effective. I clean from the bottom up through the stove. It navigates back-to-back corrugated 45°'s without a problem. I can feel when the cleaning head bumps the cap and just spin it there for a bit & then head back down (I'm not worried about what the outside of the cap/screen looks like, so long as it's soot-free from the inside). No hurry, no particular effort involved. Works for me. Rick

 

[rdust]

I have a Soot Eater like Rick although my results are a little more mixed. My chimney is a bit of a head ache since I have to take the stove pipe apart to clean the chimney. It's a lined masonry chimney so the Soot Eater has to turn 90* after it goes into the wall. I have no issues going up but when I'm bringing it back down the release on the rods tend to hit something inside the 90* of the chimney and allows them to come apart! Haven't had any major issues with loosing one yet but it could happen.

I'm going to run the Soot Eater up soon and get up on the roof and take a look down from the top so see how well it's cleaning. If I'm not happy with it I'll run a poly brush down it and figure on using the Soot Eater for a Mid season cleaning.

 

[soupy1957]

Thanks for the Gardus Soot Eater tip.........I'll look it over!!

-Soupy1957

 

[btuser]

I bought 2 sets of of Rutger chimney rods when HD was closing them out for the seaon. I also bought a steel brush, but have changed to a poly because it just seemed too tough on the liner. Cost about $40, if you count the new brush. I put an anchoring point on my chimney so I can tie off when I go up. If I'm real carefull I don't get flack from the boss.

5 minutes to set my ladder and grab my brushes, 5 minutes to put on my harness because its a pain, 1 minute to climb the ladder, 1 minute to take off the cap, 5 to screw the brushes together and do a really good job cleaning the liner, 2 minutes to clean the cap and re-install, 10 minutes to put all the stuff away, and 10 minutes to vac out the stove and empty the ash vac. 30 minutes and I saved $100 minimum.

 

[weatherguy]

I have a Soot Eater like Rick although my results are a little more mixed. My chimney is a bit of a head ache since I have to take the stove pipe apart to clean the chimney. It’s a lined masonry chimney so the Soot Eater has to turn 90* after it goes into the wall. I have no issues going up but when I’m bringing it back down the release on the rods tend to hit something inside the 90* of the chimney and allows them to come apart! Haven’t had any major issues with loosing one yet but it could happen.

I’m going to run the Soot Eater up soon and get up on the roof and take a look down from the top so see how well it’s cleaning. If I’m not happy with it I’ll run a poly brush down it and figure on using the Soot Eater for a Mid season cleaning.

From the looks of it you could probably use it as a weed wacker.


I have a straight 26' shot so I may give this tool a try, if it doesnt work on the chimney Ill try it on the lawn.