Clean your chimney early

[DougA]

I was prompted by a few threads on this forum to get up on the roof and check my chimney, yet again. I cleaned it early winter and I find once a winter is good. Four weeks ago I went up and checked/cleaned the creosote on the cap screen as we were getting some bitterly cold weather. So, yesterday was sunny & not so frigid so a great chance to cool down the stove and clean the chimney.

WOW. I had been burning next year's wood for the last month and even though it was 20% moisture, I knew some was OK and some not so good. The chimney was the worst I had ever seen it. Not danger zone (by my standards) but way worse than I expected.

So - warning to others. This year has been long and cold and there will be lots of chimneys that are in dire need of cleaning. When you get the chance, better to do it early. I've still got at least a month of burning before the stove goes cold for the summer.

 

[razerface]

I wonder if "new" creosote is easier to clean then "old" creosote? I hope to clean mine too. I will not reload when i get home,,,it will take 24 hours to let all the coals die. We get 2 warm days.

 

[begreen]

Good advice. I think a lot of folks are going to be surprised by extra build up after this very cold winter. Lots more wood smoke going through much colder chimneys will do it.

 

[nikolays]

Had mine cleaned last sat. got 3 cups full of gray/brown collor dust. This is from 18' of double wall SS chemney, and I've been burning southern pine (5 1/2 cords) 24/7 for little over 5 month.

 

[Beer Belly]

I'll probably get a shot at doing it in a couple weeks....I know it's not gonna be good

 

[BrotherBart]

Went up and looked down mine a couple of days ago. A bit worse than usual but it wipes off with a finger. And this is also the only time in history that I cleaned it in October and didn't do a midterm in early January and have just ran with it all season. Based on these results from here on it will be once a season.

Plus after I wrapped some insulation in aluminum foil and clamped it around the couple of inches of the liner/top plate collar the crusty crud in the very top of the liner has not appeared as well as no crap in the diamond shaped openings in the cap.

 

[Woodman37]

Cleaned mine last Saturday. The weather was nice so I jumped on the opportunity. It was worse than I thought so I'm very glad I got it done.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

I wonder if "new" creosote is easier to clean then "old" creosote? I hope to clean mine too. I will not reload when i get home,,,it will take 24 hours to let all the coals die. We get 2 warm days.

You do not have to let things get cold before cleaning the chimney. We have burned wood over 50 years and have never waited for the chimney or stove to cool before cleaning. We do usually wait until it is down to coals but never wait for those to burn down. So once we are done cleaning, we can just throw a few splits in the stove and are back up to temperature quickly.

 

[firefighterjake]

Ditto to what BS said ... typically I sweep in the morning before doing a reload or later in the afternoon of a mild day several hours after a morning fire.

 

[Fins59]

I must be doing something wrong then. If my chimney is slightly warm the soot keeps pouring out of the top of chimney while I'm putting the brush to it. And of course the wind is blowing it directly into my face. Last time I wore a full face shield and that helped a lot. Right now it's 9 PM and 40* out so my stove is off, and first thing tomorrow morning I'll be on roof with chimney brush in hand. Took all the snow off house roof today. About a foot and a half and very heavy.

On cleaning the chimney...... I remove the cap at the bottom of the chimney tee (7" round stainless chimney) and attach a bag to catch soot. Maybe I'll leave the cap on while cleaning and that might eliminate the draft that's putting all that soot in my face.

 

[TradEddie]

With the snow finally melted from my roof, I went up yesterday for this first time this season. Much more black shiny creosote around the screen and cap than last year, but from the liner itself only a cup of pale brown coffee grounds after burning about a cord. I'll give it a proper clean when it gets warmer, but I'm pleased.

TE

 

[weatherguy]

Went up and looked down mine a couple of days ago. A bit worse than usual but it wipes off with a finger. And this is also the only time in history that I cleaned it in October and didn't do a midterm in early January and have just ran with it all season. Based on these results from here on it will be once a season.

Plus after I wrapped some insulation in aluminum foil and clamped it around the couple of inches of the liner/top plate collar the crusty crud in the very top of the liner has not appeared as well as no crap in the diamond shaped openings in the cap.

This sounds like a good idea BB, that's the only place I have a problem, mine was built up with crud around the diamond openings, I think I have about 6-8" or so before the screen, is that what you wrapped?

 

[BrotherBart]

I wrapped the collar of the top plate where it clamps around the liner.

 

[Woody Stover]

It got into the 60s yesterday so didn't light a fire, jumped up there and ran a brush down. Looked like some flaky stuff at the top and more powdery further down. Where the liner exits the top plate was necked down with 1/2-3/4" of buildup around the inside top circumference. I didn't notice any change in draft, and this is the first year I've seen this, probably because it was colder, but I'm still gonna slap a BB turtleneck on that top clamp area. I got about the same as what I had all of last season, a 1.5 qt. saucepan's worth.
While I was up there, I took off the sheet metal cover that I put over the other clay liner years ago, and took a look. It goes straight down, then takes a slight jog in the smoke chamber area, and ends up at an exterior clean-out door at the base of the chimney. If we put a room addition out there, I can just tap into the other flue with the other stove. I guess that would work if the two exhaust streams don't interfere with each other. I never sealed off that clean-out door, but maybe that would keep the entire masonry chimney a little warmer. Not sure if it would be enough to cut creo deposits in my liner in the other flue, but it's worth a try....
As long as the stove was cooled off, I cleaned the glass and brushed the dust off the mesh cat screen. I'm ready for when reality sets back in Wed. and Thurs. with highs in the low 40s.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

I must be doing something wrong then. If my chimney is slightly warm the soot keeps pouring out of the top of chimney while I'm putting the brush to it. And of course the wind is blowing it directly into my face. Last time I wore a full face shield and that helped a lot. Right now it's 9 PM and 40* out so my stove is off, and first thing tomorrow morning I'll be on roof with chimney brush in hand. Took all the snow off house roof today. About a foot and a half and very heavy.

On cleaning the chimney...... I remove the cap at the bottom of the chimney tee (7" round stainless chimney) and attach a bag to catch soot. Maybe I'll leave the cap on while cleaning and that might eliminate the draft that's putting all that soot in my face.

Can you clean from the bottom? Remove that bottom cap and insert the brush. This is how we do it at present.

That snow had to be super heavy! 18" of heavy wet soggy snow is not light! Rest easy tonight.

 

[91LMS]

Can you clean from the bottom? Remove that bottom cap and insert the brush. This is how we do it at present.

That snow had to be super heavy! 18" of heavy wet soggy snow is not light! Rest easy tonight.

close your damper/s complete including bypass if your stove has it. the least amount of draft drawing up the chimney will minimize your facefull

 

[Bobbin]

Are you guys dealing with chimneys that are primarily inside the home or are fully exterior? (is the part of the chimney that rises above the stove called the "chase"? never have fully understood that term)

 

[bholler]

The term chase usually refers to a surround that is built around a prefab chimney or a zero clearance unit and its chimney.

 

[Bobbin]

I still don't quite "get it"... . We have an interior chimney, the "chase" is the portion of it that rises from its inception on the slab (where it vents the boiler and the wood stove) to the point it exits the roof? Is there a special term to describe the part of chimney that rises above the roof of the home?

 

[bholler]

A chase is not a masonry structure it is a framed structure. I believe what you are talking about is just referred to as a chimney

 

[Bobbin]

Check. Thanks!

 

[xman23]

I thought this was about how to get to find time to clean the chimney before the fall leaves are coming down. I say every year I'm going to do it. Most of the time it gets hot and the roof is soft so I stay off it. This year spring cleaning!

 

[bholler]

Yeah I don't know how it got sidetracked.

 

[Woody Stover]

A chase is not a masonry structure it is a framed structure. I believe what you are talking about is just referred to as a chimney

I googled 'chimney chase' and saw images of a few masonry and concrete chases, so I guess the distinction is that a 'chase' contains a liner, class A or some other "chimney.' But then there are masonry 'chimneys' without a clay tile liner....this is getting confusing.

We have an interior chimney....where it vents the boiler and the wood stove

Two separate flues, correct? I'm sure it is....

 

[bholler]

were they masonry structures or were they framed and covered in masonry veneer?