Cleaning your own chimney

[dtabor]

OK guys/gals,

Ive never cleaned my own chimney (I know, I know what blasphemy), always hired someone. With my new system, I think it would be easy enough as its a straight shot to the T then 90 over to the stove.

At the bottom of the main flue at the T there is a cap with a couple screws, Do i leave that closed until Ive run the brushes then open up to clean out the debris?

What about the small section from the stove to the 90? That would require disconnecting it from the stove and moving the stove itself which wont be an easy task. Is this the correct way or is there an easier way?

D

 

[swestall]

You've got it, run the brush down a few times, scoop out the big stuff and vac the dust. Depends on how much you have. Disconnect the connector and take it outside and clean it separately.
Put a garbage bag over the connector when you sweep so you don't get crap in the house. Hold it on with Magic Duct Tape. Then you can cut the top a bit and pull the crap into the bag and go. Then Vac.
That's about it excepting to put a light into the connector and go back up and look down to make sure you have a clean flue.

OH Yeah, you did get a brush and fiberglass rods didn't you?

 

[Diabel]

I was just thinking about that myself. I believe there is a telescopic section on the stovepipe.

 

[Henz]

Yeah, I had the same question for the inside stove pipe. Still havent cleaned it other than vacuuming it from the outside. havent scrubbed it yet. I guess i have to disconnect it al and take it outside to clean?

 

[swestall]

I usually take it outside when I take it off; just to keep the mess out of the house. Then I scratch it down just so I did; not usually much there.

 

[Henz]

i cant imagien that there will be much there either. I did hae some fine soot laying on the horizontal section when I vacumed it out from the outside

 

[Jfk4th]

Used to get ripped having other people clean my chimney pipes, about 150.00 Went to Lowes bought a brush and 5 connectors for about 30 total, VIOLA Let the savings begin, I do it once a year, about 2 cups of creosote powder each time, must be burning OK

 

[dtabor]

Thanks for the replies everyone!

No havent got the materials yet. Will be doing that soon.

I hate to have to take off the inside pipes. Thinking it will be a nightmare to get it back on tight AND line up the screw holes again. Having to do that with the cleanout section of the flue wont be so bad as its a smaller cap.

 

[raybonz]

Thanks for the replies everyone!

No havent got the materials yet. Will be doing that soon.

I hate to have to take off the inside pipes. Thinking it will be a nightmare to get it back on tight AND line up the screw holes again. Having to do that with the cleanout section of the flue wont be so bad as its a smaller cap.

Hey dtabor,
I've cleaned my chimney for years and it pays for itself the 1st time. My advice is buy quality tools just like the sweep uses and when assembling the stove pipe use furnace cement to assure an airtight seal on your stove pipes. It's easy to do and all you pay is sweat equity and you know it's done right!

Ray

 

[colsmith]

Depends on how yours is set up, but we can disconnect the stovepipe from the stove to the ceiling without too much trouble. It does not involve moving our stove, we just unscrew things and wiggle the stovepipe. You need two people to handle it. We don't like to do it too often as eventually some screw hole will get stripped. We have two 45 degree bends between stove and ceiling. To make it all easier to put back together I put some blue fingernail polish on each section of pipe/elbow connection point before it came apart the first time. Just drew a little smear/line or in some cases two parallel lines. Due to the nature of fingernail polish it stays on well despite the heat, and the smeary variance of the lines help differentiate them from one another to help put them back together. I used blue since that is hard to see on the black stovepipe unless you are looking for it and maybe have a flashlight.

Honestly we could skip taking the stovepipe apart to clean, it hardly has anything in it when we do, but we do need to remove it when we clean the chimney. Where the stovepipe ends at the ceiling thimble (is that that word?) is where we must catch the soot from the chimney, due the the design of our stove with the baffles and burn tubes and all we can't push it into there. Anyway, cleaning our chimney isn't that hard and we are not especially coordinated people!

 

[dtabor]

Some Like It Hot brings up another option/question. Is there a way I could get at that small section from the stove to the flue (about 3 feet +/-) from the damper opening inside the stove? Its not round at that opening so would that hurt the brush? If this was possible, I wouldnt have to take that apart and could "push" anything in that section to the cleanout T.

 

[raybonz]

Some Like It Hot brings up another option/question. Is there a way I could get at that small section from the stove to the flue (about 3 feet +/-) from the damper opening inside the stove? Its not round at that opening so would that hurt the brush? If this was possible, I wouldnt have to take that apart and could "push" anything in that section to the cleanout T.

The brushes are spring steel and it probably wouldn't hurt it but it will probably be difficult to push it through and back. I take my stovepipe off and clean it outside and brush the chimney from the roof. My house is about 25' from the peak to the ground but being a gambrel it's not too steep. I been thinking to try those chemical sweeps you burn in the stove in between brushing.. Has anyone used those and are they effective?

Ray

 

[dtabor]

Raybonz,

I have a gambrel style roof as well. Getting up there doesnt bother me. Just the hassle of tearing apart the inside to get at it.

On your other note, I use Saf-T-Flu on a regular basis and have since I started burning wood at my last house. It was recommended to me by a friend at work. The only thing I can say is that when the sweeps have cleaned my chimneys, they have always said there was hardly anything there and up until I found this site, I was burning anything and everything for wood and it wasnt a newer style stove until this year. Until I get a season that I have buildup after using it, I'll say it works!!

D

 

[raybonz]

Raybonz,

I have a gambrel style roof as well. Getting up there doesnt bother me. Just the hassle of tearing apart the inside to get at it.

On your other note, I use Saf-T-Flu on a regular basis and have since I started burning wood at my last house. It was recommended to me by a friend at work. The only thing I can say is that when the sweeps have cleaned my chimneys, they have always said there was hardly anything there and up until I found this site, I was burning anything and everything for wood and it wasnt a newer style stove until this year. Until I get a season that I have buildup after using it, I'll say it works!!

D

Thanx for the advice on Saf-T-Flu I'll look for it and give it a shot...


Ray