how clean should I expect pro cleaned chimney?

[philaphire]

Although I've made it to "burning hunk" status, still quite the rookie here. So I got a chimney sweep to come and clean out my chimneys since I don't have the tools, have never done it, and wanted to learn by watching what all is entailed. They had the brushes on flex rods, went up the roof, gave it a good brush, then swept up firebox. Later, when I go to look up the chimney thinking about my hopeful future stove installation, I see build up all in that initial shelf area before the clay liner. Should I call them back and complain or is that typical? Should I clean out if I'm going to reline? THANKS

 

[elkimmeg]

That should have been brushed and vac out fine cresote particles are quite combustiable and should not be left behind

 

[wahoowad]

I took my creosote particles (about a cup worth) to the garage and tried to ignite them. I put a propane torch on them, both from above as well as below. They would smoke and smolder but not ignite. I was disappointed as I was looking forward to this 2100 degree mini-blaze of creosote!

I'm not disputing chimney fires - no doubt they exist - just seems odd I couldn't intentionally ignite it.

Call the guy back. Be polite. Just say you think he missed an area.

 

[MountainStoveGuy]

Wahoo, the type one isnt that dangerous, whats dangeous is that it converts to type 2, then ti type 3 which is glaze creosote, which is very very flammable. Your experement doenst suprise me, but if you left your chimmey dirty, that creosote will chemicaly react with heat to form a very combustive material.

 

[fbelec]

for your experiment try taking some of your creosote and put it into a coffee can and put the torch under the can until the creosote turn into a tar shiny looking stuff then hit it with the torch while it is still hot then tell us what happened. that tar shiny stuff is what burn's. and take it from experience it make a great fire.

i'm not trying to be a wise guy but i wanted to do that same thing but never remember to do it until i throw out the stuff from the chimney. i've had that shiny stuff and a chimney fire. if you've ever seen a oil burner running in a boiler it looks the same but it's blasting out your chimney (in my case that's 8 x 12) about 3 to 4 feet and a dark orange color instead of yellow.

oh and a bit scary.

 

[ChrisN]

I watched my local chimney sweep clean mine a couple of years ago too. I paid $140.00 for the 20 minute cleaning. Afterwards I went to lowes and bought a brush along with enough 4' extension poles for $40.00, and have been cleaning myself since. If one is comfortable working aloft and doesn't have any unusual setup situations, I recommend doing the cleaning yourself.

 

[Roospike]

I watched my local chimney sweep clean mine a couple of years ago too. I paid $140.00 for the 20 minute cleaning. Afterwards I went to lowes and bought a brush along with enough 4' extension poles for $40.00, and have been cleaning myself since. If one is comfortable working aloft and doesn't have any unusual setup situations, I recommend doing the cleaning yourself.

Thats only $280.oo an hour , not too bad of deal.

 

[jabush]

Actually he paid $420.00 per hour...

 

[jtcedinburgh]

Seems very steep. We had our chimney swept for the grand total of £30 ($50ish). The same firm also installed our liner and stove. Maybe they weren't as thorough, how can I tell? Or is it a question of us simply being lucky in our choice of sweep?

 

[berlin]

its a question of you being lucky that your in scotland where sweeps have a 300 year old history of knowing what the hell they are doing.

 

[wg_bent]

I burned creosote once...well, actually my father did. He use to have a Reginald stove that looked exactly like a Jotul 602 for a few years. After a season of "burning"...more like smouldering, the clay lined chimney would get these big flakes of black stuff that we'd knock off by rattling a chain down the inside the chimney. I realize now that his chimney cleaning technique was not adequate...but anyway, we took a peice of that stuff and put it on the patio and lit it with a tourch. It burned like it was solid kerosene. Much like what you'd expect if you lit a peice of tar you peeled off of your driveway. There's no doubt that if he ever had a chimney fire it would have been impressive and very nasty.

 

[tradergordo]

You asked "how clean should I expect pro cleaned chimney? "

I think the pro chimney SWEEP answered this question in the TV show "World's Dirtiest Jobs". They went to work on an extremely dirty chimney. When they were all done, it still looked dirty. The host asked about this and the reply was "we don't clean chimney's, we SWEEP them".

Haha, I was laughing. But its true. They aren't called "chimney cleaners" they are called "chimney sweeps". Sounds like you paid for a sweep and you got a sweep. That said, I think any knucklehead could do this themselves, or if you are afraid of heights, pay a min-wage person to do it for you (make sure they have insurance though).

 

[skypager]

True. They are not gonna get every stain on the chimney since it is swept, not scrubbed with cleaners. However, philaphire's smoke shelf was never cleaned off. That is an incomplete job in my book. The sweep should have taken a shop vac and sucked up the loose stuff on the shelf.

Its like sweeping a floor. After you get all the dirt in a pile you use a dust pan to pick it up. If not, you haven't really finished the job.