Hiring a sweep...

[iceman2424]

I've got a guy coming out this Friday to sweep my stainless steel liner (attached to a Napoleon EPI3 wood burning insert).

The guy has good reviews, but I just don't trust anybody to do a good job, especially when I know very little about the process required to effectively sweep a liner.

Which brings me to my question - what should I keep an eye on as the dude is working? What actions do I need to ensure are completed? I mean, I don't plan on hanging over the guy's shoulder the entire time, I just want to make sure I'm on top of everything.

Is it OK to go from the bottom up, or should it be top town? Should the cap be cleaned? Assuming the baffle and reburn tubes should be removed beforehand, right? Is a special brush required for ovalized liners (which mine is)? That sort of stuff...

Thanks all!

 

[double-d]

Many sweepers work from the bottom up when sweeping, nothing wrong with that. sometimes they will even have binoculars and take a look at the cap from the ground, depending on the difficulty of getting to the top.
After they clean, I would make sure the Insert itself is swept and vacuumed and any baffles or parts that were disconnected are put back in place. They should be using a cloth tarp or something to keep from making a mess. Using a Spinning whip or Chamber brush often used.

 

[bholler]

Bottom up cleaning is fine as long as they verify the cap is cleaned either by going up or with binoculars. As far as cleaning an oval liner that will depend upon how it was ovalized. If it was done with a machine ant it is an even oval then a brush can work ok. But if it was site done without an ovalizer it would need to be done with a rotary cleaner. I pretty much only use rotary now anyway.

 

[Nick Mystic]

I only need to sweep my flue once a year and always do it from the top down since that is the easiest way for me. I've been burning most of my adult life and have never had an instance where my cap wasn't the dirtiest part of my system. If I was hiring someone to do a sweep for me I would expect them to at least get up on the roof and inspect my cap, as well as the condition of my masonry chimney. As long as they are up there it would only make sense to pull off the cap and give it a good cleaning.

 

[bholler]

I only need to sweep my flue once a year and always do it from the top down since that is the easiest way for me. I've been burning most of my adult life and have never had an instance where my cap wasn't the dirtiest part of my system. If I was hiring someone to do a sweep for me I would expect them to at least get up on the roof and inspect my cap, as well as the condition of my masonry chimney. As long as they are up there it would only make sense to pull off the cap and give it a good cleaning.

I will go up as long as it is feasable the first time and roughly every 5 years after that to check things out. But with a rotary cleaner there is almost never a reason to clean the cap separately. If a customer insists i go up every time regardless of need i will do it but they will be charged extra.

 

[xman23]

Many years ago when I was new to all of this. Since I didn't have the equipment and there was a puff back issue, I had a sweep do the first cleaning. (I didn't know the cause of the puff back)

My chimney is high above a roof that you can get on. So he did a bottom up cleaning. He used a flat brush that could have cleaned the cap. So he left, and the puff back issue was still there. I figured a way to get ladders on the roof, got up there and the cap off. Cleaned the cap of a gooey mess. This was from the poor wood my first year. Removed the screen forever. All was fine.

So watch and learn. He should have professional equipment and can do a fine job from the bottom up. Can he get a plugged screen cap clean from the bottom up? My experience says no. This all said learn to do it yourself. A few dollars of equipment. Top down should be the best way, but surely not the only way. The cleaning will tell you how your burning. Most of us get by with a single cleaning a year.

 

[bholler]

Many years ago when I was new to all of this. Since I didn't have the equipment and there was a puff back issue, I had a sweep do the first cleaning. (I didn't know the cause of the puff back)

My chimney is high above a roof that you can get on. So he did a bottom up cleaning. He used a flat brush that could have cleaned the cap. So he left, and the puff back issue was still there. I figured a way to get ladders on the roof, got up there and the cap off. Cleaned the cap of a gooey mess. This was from the poor wood my first year. Removed the screen forever. All was fine.

So watch and learn. He should have professional equipment and can do a fine job from the bottom up. Can he get a plugged screen cap clean from the bottom up? My experience says no. This all said learn to do it yourself. A few dollars of equipment. Top down should be the best way, but surely not the only way. The cleaning will tell you how your burning. Most of us get by with a single cleaning a year.

Yes with the right equipment a clogged cap can be cleaned from the bottom. But a flat wire brush is not the right equipment to do that.