Greetings everyone! I hope that all is well with everyone and whoever has begun burning for this year is finding their stoves to keep them comfortable and warm. My fellow New Englanders will agree that this year the cold has snuck up on us early. Here in CT we got snow a few days ago, I can't remember the last time we got snow in October. As the temps in the house began to sink it became obvious that I should stop procrastinating and prepare our Rainer for her second year in service. So, up on the roof I go with my brand new poly brush and extensions. It went a lot easier than I thought it would, I thought there would be scrubbing involved. Really I just pushed it down and pulled it back up and that was about it. Seemed clean to me after that (photos below). I kind of forced the 6" brush through the oval bit in the fireplace flue, is that a bad idea? I don't want to shred my liner, it seems ok now but for the future. What do you think? (apologies for poor picture quality, pictures taken with my cell phone)
Actually before the pictures I looked at the stove, found one broken brick, is it very important to replace these? It is just cracked but otherwise is still completely there.
Also, experts, anything else I need to check to make sure she is ship-shape for the season? The seal looks fine, glass is OK. Didn't notice any cracks or weld breaks in the body.
Before: Full size picture for those interested
![[Hearth.com] Cold weather snuck up on us New Englanders. Swept liner today for first time, care to critique?](/talk/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.boomspeed.com%2Fpr0vidence%2Fstove%2FtopBeforeSmall.jpg&hash=4a01ae5f1c7b112eb30ca1dad80d890a "[Hearth.com] Cold weather snuck up on us New Englanders. Swept liner today for first time, care to critique?")
After: Full size picture for those interested
![[Hearth.com] Cold weather snuck up on us New Englanders. Swept liner today for first time, care to critique?](/talk/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.boomspeed.com%2Fpr0vidence%2Fstove%2FtopAfterSmall.jpg&hash=f59f632dacd47e5fb3955104f567bc06 "[Hearth.com] Cold weather snuck up on us New Englanders. Swept liner today for first time, care to critique?")
And one from the stove, sorry for poor light I was doing the best I could with a flashlight:
Full size picture for those interested
![[Hearth.com] Cold weather snuck up on us New Englanders. Swept liner today for first time, care to critique?](/talk/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.boomspeed.com%2Fpr0vidence%2Fstove%2FfromStoveSmall.jpg&hash=c6aca9005c33232a7193c9baff0ef8f4 "[Hearth.com] Cold weather snuck up on us New Englanders. Swept liner today for first time, care to critique?")
Actually before the pictures I looked at the stove, found one broken brick, is it very important to replace these? It is just cracked but otherwise is still completely there.
Also, experts, anything else I need to check to make sure she is ship-shape for the season? The seal looks fine, glass is OK. Didn't notice any cracks or weld breaks in the body.
Before: Full size picture for those interested
After: Full size picture for those interested
And one from the stove, sorry for poor light I was doing the best I could with a flashlight:
Full size picture for those interested
