I cleaned the chimney, can someone look and tell me if this is looks good enough??

[hfjeff]

Sweeps in this area charge $150 to clean a chimney, so I thought I would try it myself. I got the flue nearly perfect, and the firebox is easy enough, but what about the section just above the damper before the clay tile starts? I have had my chimney cleaned professionally before, but the damper was still in so I don't know how clean he could have gotten it. I removed the damper because my insert is here (woohoo) and ran a shop vac with soft bristle brush over the entire area. But there seems to be a thin coat of creasote remaining. Does this have to be perfectly spotless? Or does it look OK? There are no chunks of creasote, just a thin coat.

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Not sure how to post pics directly on this forum, but here are the links. Thanks.

 

[hfjeff]

The stuff is hard and gritty like sand, not soft and gummy like ........gum. I scraped some off with a putty knife and it is some hard crusty stuff. Maybe it was creasote but is now baked on lava. It has maybe been in there 50 years? I am installing a full length Forever-Flex liner.

 

[BrotherBart]

Everybody will have opinions but it looks great to me. I have never had a chimney and smoke chamber (that space about the damper) that clean in my life. If you want some more of it off of the smoke chamber a long handled wire brush or a garden hoe does a pretty good job.

But like I said, looks great to me.

 

[budman]

You are good to go from what i see. :zip:

 

[Harley]

Just my opinion - but I'd say it looks pretty good to go - get the liner and the insert in there and you should be all set - you shouldn't see any more buildup of creosote once that's done.

 

[webbie]

Look very good to me - there is no such thing as cleaning all this stuff right down to the mortar - you probably did a better job that many sweeps would

 

[hardwood715]

As they all have said already ....nice job your good to go! My chamber has stuff like that too, but if you try to hard, you may end up doing more harm than good, thats just the baked on cured resins of a long time in use. The flue tiles look great, again nice job!

 

[Hogwildz]

2 thumbs up, as stated, not many sweeps get it that clean.

 

[elkimmeg]

Everbody is telling this poster he is good to go? What for another season, where he has an incrorrectly installed insert? He has a direct connect with out any mention of a damper block off plate,, just a wide open damper His installation also does not take in consideration of the cross-sectional code issues which again would not pass code Also omitted is the cleaning of the connector pipe or the accumulation of ccrap probably residing on his bafflet in his stove And he is good to go? Am I missing something here? Good to go means risking daggereous back drafting without a damper plate the possibility of carbon monoxides back drafting in the living space without any means of preventing it.. and he is good to go what about cresote accumulations on the bafflets an in that connector pipe?

 

[kd460]

Question is, how well does it wash off your clothes? From the looks of it, top rate job. Must have been fun!

FYI, I hope you consider insulating your liner. Don't do like I did and end up removing things and insulating later. I wish I did it all at one time, the first time. Many liner companies require insulating the liner to get the UL listing, and it does help with creosote build up and better performance of your insert. Many people do not insulate, but after doing my homework, I decide to go ahead and do it. Just an FYI.

I assume the original poster was talking about the cleaning of the chimney, not the entire install. Hopefully he has done his homework and is aware of the info you provided Elk, if not, then you saved another one and hopefully he will ask away.

Nice work on the chimney. KD

 

[GVA]

Everbody is telling this poster he is good to go? What for another season, where he has an incrorrectly installed insert? He has a direct connect with out any mention of a damper block off plate,, just a wide open damper His installation also does not take in consideration of the cross-sectional code issues which again would not pass code Also omitted is the cleaning of the connector pipe or the accumulation of ccrap probably residing on his bafflet in his stove And he is good to go? Am I missing something here? Good to go means risking daggereous back drafting without a damper plate the possibility of carbon monoxides back drafting in the living space without any means of preventing it.. and he is good to go what about cresote accumulations on the bafflets an in that connector pipe?

Elk it look like he's doing a new install into the fireplace (broken link removed to http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a194/HFJeff/insert1.jpg)
and he also mentioned doing a full liner.

 

[BrotherBart]

Everbody is telling this poster he is good to go? What for another season, where he has an incrorrectly installed insert? He has a direct connect with out any mention of a damper block off plate,, just a wide open damper His installation also does not take in consideration of the cross-sectional code issues which again would not pass code Also omitted is the cleaning of the connector pipe or the accumulation of ccrap probably residing on his bafflet in his stove And he is good to go? Am I missing something here? Good to go means risking daggereous back drafting without a damper plate the possibility of carbon monoxides back drafting in the living space without any means of preventing it.. and he is good to go what about cresote accumulations on the bafflets an in that connector pipe?

What incorrectly installed insert? What direct connect? What connector pipe?

Yes you are missing something here.

The man is trying to do a safe legal installation of his insert. Starting with the damndest chimney cleaning job I have ever seen. If he does the rest of the job as well as he has done the chimney prep he is going to make two VC stove installations in MA look like they were done by a rookie.

 

[hfjeff]

Thanks for the advice. I had nothing to compare it to so wanted to make sure it is clean. I am quite fussy and spent about 4 hours total and was a filthy mess by the time I was done. But I just couldn't see paying $150 to have somebody else do it. Materials ran $25. The 1/2" conduit works great as a brush rod. And the sump pump hose on the shop vac sitting outside kept the dust/ash down. Taped plastic across the front of the fireplace and kept it all contained. The stainless liner arrived today, but unfortunately I will be out on business this week so my new Regency will be sitting on a cart in the middle of the living room until Sat. Makes a great coffee table though. It was a beast to get out of the truck and in the house. Good thing the brother-in-law is a weight lifter. It only cost me 1 beer. Thanks all for the help so far. Will post a picture next week when it is done.

 

[BrotherBart]

Just keep doing it the way you are doing it and send up some pics after it is installed.

You have a great winter ahead with that insert. It is gonna be warm around there.

 

[elkimmeg]

I guess I did miss something sorry if offensive I will admit to errors. the original post did not say he was installinga new stove. I guess with everything happening in my life I did not read every post up till this one. Maybe today was too sad to really be objective .I saw my mother in law as fragile as glass worse I could not even encourage her to eat she refused. My wife was encouraged because this was the best her mother looked in a week. I did not tell her my observations.. I quess I should have stayed out of this thread

BTW nice job cleaning your flue

 

[GVA]

I guess I did miss something sorry if offensive I will admit to errors. the original post did not say he was installinga new stove. I guess with everything happening in my life I did not read every post up till this one. Maybe today was too sad to really be objective .I saw my mother in law as fragile as glass worse I could not even encourage her to eat she refused. My wife was encouraged because this was the best her mother looked in a week. I did not tell her my observations.. I quess I should have stayed out of this thread

BTW nice job cleaning your flue

Elk sorry for you're recent situation.
Relax it's a brutal hot weekend here now, take the weekend off from projects and the hearth.....

 

[GVA]

I had nothing to It was a beast to get out of the truck and in the house. Good thing the brother-in-law is a weight lifter. It only cost me 1 beer. Thanks all for the help so far. Will post a picture next week when it is done.

only 1 beer the going rate here in Mass is 2 Sam Adams and a couple slices of pizza ;-)

 

[hardwood715]

.I saw my mother in law as fragile as glass worse I could not even encourage her to eat she refused. My wife was encouraged because this was the best her mother looked in a week. I did not tell her my observations.

I went through this in January, I know the feeling Elk, Just being with her is support that she needs, and know inside that even though you feel there isn't much you can do, you being with her and not waiting in the car, or dropping her off and going to home depot or someplace else is
the best thing you did all week, I had a hard time going to that hospital! Was scary seing the crow like that. Hang in there Elk.

 

[karl]

What size brush did you use on that chimney? I was thinking about cleaning mine myself but I wasn't sure about getting a 12" brush I'm only going to use once. Could I use a 6" on it and just hold it up against the sides of the chimney? Maybe, I'll by a 12" and then cut it down once I put the liner in.

 

[Gooserider]

What size brush did you use on that chimney? I was thinking about cleaning mine myself but I wasn't sure about getting a 12" brush I'm only going to use once. Could I use a 6" on it and just hold it up against the sides of the chimney? Maybe, I'll by a 12" and then cut it down once I put the liner in.

To do a good job you need to exert FAR more force than you could just by trying to sideload the brush. I would get the right sized brush, it isn't that expensive. Ditto on cutting it down - reports I've seen from people that have done it is that it's a PITA and doesn't work that well.

I would suggest getting the right brush, using it and then selling it off on Craig's list or E-pay - probably the former. Even worst case, a brush is maybe $20 - so you use it once and get rid of it, still cheaper than a sweep...

Another option might be to try making a chicken wire ball brush or other improvised scrubber - but again unless it's something you already have, it will probably be just about as expensive as the right brush...

Gooserider

 

[keyman512us]

I had nothing to It was a beast to get out of the truck and in the house. Good thing the brother-in-law is a weight lifter. It only cost me 1 beer. Thanks all for the help so far. Will post a picture next week when it is done.

only 1 beer the going rate here in Mass is 2 Sam Adams and a couple slices of pizza ;-)

"Qaesidia's may be substituted in lieu of pizza"lol

Nice cleaning job...

As a sidenote...use the search function here on the hearth something to the effect of "Creosote buildup" and you will be a little more reassured.

Good reference:
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/4845/

 

[hfjeff]

I used a perfect fit square brush from Fleet Farm. My flue is 6 1/2" X 10 1/2" and the brush is 7" X 11" ($20). I kind of doubt that you would be able to hold enough pressure on a smaller brush to get it tight to the sides and get it clean, especially when you get 10-14 feet down. I would look for a perfect fit brush. There were tons of them on ebay.