The first time I cleaned the chimney I decided there had to be a better way than removing the burn tubes, vermiculite boards, and the fiber blanket on top of them.
This time I went up on the roof, climbed up on the chimney, ran the brush a few times, and put the cap back on. Then I went to the shop got my shop vac and set it by the front door. I have an old swimming pool vacuum hose which I connected to the shop vac. I was able to suck all the soot right out from above the vermiculite boards. Not like last time with ash and soot all over the hearth and floor.
I would be in trouble though if I had a lot of the hard peanut brittle like creosote, it would have clogged the small pool hose. the light fluffy stuff I get came right out. I could actually see it getting sucked into the hose. The only downside to this method is I can't measure how much stuff I got out of the chimney.
This time I went up on the roof, climbed up on the chimney, ran the brush a few times, and put the cap back on. Then I went to the shop got my shop vac and set it by the front door. I have an old swimming pool vacuum hose which I connected to the shop vac. I was able to suck all the soot right out from above the vermiculite boards. Not like last time with ash and soot all over the hearth and floor.
I would be in trouble though if I had a lot of the hard peanut brittle like creosote, it would have clogged the small pool hose. the light fluffy stuff I get came right out. I could actually see it getting sucked into the hose. The only downside to this method is I can't measure how much stuff I got out of the chimney.