Rookie first time sweep

[jkupcha]

OK thought I'd give a quick report for those wondering if they could do this themselves. It was super easy. I bought the 8"poly round brush and adapter and got the rods for free from that previous post. I have a zero clearance fireplace. Opened the doors took out the damper that just sits on side horizontal shelves. Attached one rod to the brush and sent it up around the 15 degree bend up the metal tube. As I pushed I added a rod and worked it up with an up and down motion adding rods as I worked up to the cap. Careful not to push too hard on the cap I reversed the order working it down taking a rod off each step.
Once done I brushed out the firebox sides and top and reinstalled the damper. Done! 20 minutes max. Got about 1/2 cup of very small dull granuals and lots of grey ash mostly from the firebox. I burn about 3-4 cords of dry wood each season and had the chimney cleaned by a pro for $175 before the start of last season. Hope this helps anyone thinking of saving themselves some money.

 

[Yagminas Masonry and Wood-heat]

Too bad they aren't all this easy! I've cleaned some that filled buckets and buckets of creosote!

 

[gibson]

Gonna have at it for the first time on Saturday. Took a peek at it in Feb. and there was just a "film" of dust, so I think I burned Ok in my first year. I don't care for heights that much but my roof isn't bad and I get used to it after five minutes. I will admit that I ask my wife to hold the ladder as I get up and down off of the roof. It makes me feel like a sissy.

 

[Nyquil Junkie]

I have 2 stacks to keep clean, both of them are through the wall setups, and right there at the base of the first bend up, there is a soot pocket cap. I just pull that off, and run a brush/rod up the stack, then pull it back down and out. Done!

Of course inside I have to pull the single wall pipe to the wall off the stove and bang it clean and run a brush into the elbow sometimes.

One you get the hang of the job, it'll be even easier.

My brother has a built in zero clearance fireplace with a straight stack, he ran a brush up the stack from inside the house the first yr he had it.

I'm pleased to say he survived my sister in laws wrath when she saw what rolled out of the fireplace all over her living room.

Some cleaning jobs are messier than others.

 

[FrankMA]

I'm going to try it myself for the 1st time as well. Pilot Joe: How bad was the soot/dust floating in the air? It sounds like you cleaned from the firebox upward which is how I would prefer to do it.

Thanks for your post as I'm sure their are many like myself that have had some reservations about the chimney cleaning process. Your post is very clear and concise and describes what sounds like a very simple and straightforward task.

 

[jkupcha]

It was really easy and not only saves $$$ but kinda puts you more in touch with the entire burning experience.
As far as the dust. Not bad at all. I spread out an old padded moving blanket on the hearth (which in my case is raised 12") that not only caught some dust but also gave me something to kneel on when I contourted my body to look up the stack. The black granuals that came down from the actual sweeping were not a problem, they were heavier and did not fly around. Just about all of the lighter fly ash came from scraping down the walls of the firebox. I worked on a nice (high pressure) day here with little wind. When I finished I didn't even need a vacuum. I just had some ash on the blanket which I folded up and shook outside and some on the stone hearth which I have a wisk broom and pan for. I don't think my wife even knew I had worked
I really recommend trying it at least once and see if you don't mind getting a little dirty to save $175.

 

[Rudyjr]

Pilot Joe, I agree, best 36 dollars I ever spent. Twenty minutes max for me as well and the mess is almost non existent. Thanks again to Skier for the tip on where to get the free rods deal.

 

[Archie]

Right on, Pilot. The rods / brushes I bought 3 years ago paid for themselves in 45 minutes.

 

[LLigetfa]

I had the chimney professionally cleaned on my former house once after 5 years and got next to no creosote out of it. I was selling the house at the time and it was for the buyer's peace of mind. That chimney had two 45 degree offset elbows.

I cleaned my chimney last year after 10 years of burning and got very little out of it except peace of mind. This one has two 30 degree offsets and the fiberglass rods had no problems to handle the bends.

Both cleanings were top down on 12/12 pitched roofs and required very long ladders to reach the top.

 

[RustyShackleford]

I've been cleaning my own for years, usually every 2-3 years, and usually get
about a half-gallon on residue.

Here's a question: how much residue is "too much" ? In other words, for a
chimney of a given height, how much residue would you see and go "I should
have cleaned my chimney sooner" ?

 

[Todd]

Chimney sweep guild recommends sweeping chimney when 1/4" of creosote is visible anywhere in the system.

 

[BrotherBart]

I look to see if it is the last week in December or the last week of May. If enough days have accumulated I sweep'em. Only thing I am anal about.

I may get goofy and not do it but once this year, but then I say that every year and still sweep twice. It is a me and Todd thing.

 

[BrotherBart]

Chimney sweep guild recommends sweeping chimney when 1/4" of creosote is visible anywhere in the system.

thats what my non-frostfree fridge says 4 time do defrost

When it has 1/4" inch of creosote in it?

 

[Slow1]

I had mine swept by a pro this year - he was here to officially hook up the new stove anyway and I wanted to watch how he did it to see what there was to learn. Well, I'm afraid I didn't get a whole lot out of the experience other than "Hey I can do that!". He did it from the bottom clean-out (exernal class-A system with a T/Cleanout where it comes out the wall). So, he just opened up the cleanout, dumped whatever was there - it was wet which surprised me, but we had a LOT of rain recently so who knows..., then ran the brushes up from there and back down again. He had the shop-vac running inside with the nozzle stuck into the chimney at the end of the classA run the whole time to collect whatever dust was kicked up. New stove wasn't hooked up yet, old stove along with the single wall pipe had been removed already. So, that was it. The trash bag that he hung off ladder under the cleanout to catch everything held what looked like maybe 2-3 cups of stuff. Cap is discolored but other than that I wouldn't even say it looks black from the ground. He didn't even go up there.

So - doing the external part of the chimney seems to be a non-issue. I had looked into the the horizontal part to see what there was to see with a flashlight and frankly didn't see anything but darkened pipe. Now, the single wall that I took off was another story completely - that stuff had a good coating of black! I still have it, didn't clean it off - didn't reuse it. Not sure what it's fate is going to be to be honest, perhaps offer it to whoever buys the stove once I finally get it listed on CL again.

Well, I guess that means that my project this winter is to figure out what brushes I need in order to do my own sweeping - he charges $125-150 to do the job (including to the stove) so I could stand to save that. I assume I'll have to disassemble the single wall pipe when I clean which I don't look forward to doing - unless there is an easier way? (please someone tell me there is?)

 

[BrotherBart]

I assume I'll have to disassemble the single wall pipe when I clean which I don't look forward to doing - unless there is an easier way? (please someone tell me there is?)

It's a dirty job. But somebody's gotta do it.

 

[madrone]

Your set-up is just like mine, slow1. Easy cleaning. Sure, you have to remove the pipe inside, but it goes quick, and you can take it outside to clean. Whole thing takes half an hour at worst.

 

[gibson]

Cleaned it today, just about filled one if the kids sand buckets, maybe one gallon. Fine, dark brown, and dry. Like brown sand. Not a hard job at all and she's ready for this season.

 

[FrankMA]

Sen. JB: Did you clean from the top-down or the bottom-up? Getting ready to do mine and plan on a bottom-up cleaning so I don't have to climb a ladder.

 

[Skier76]

I did mine last Wednesday. Took me 20 minutes...and that included opening the boxes for the brush and the rods. I had already cleaned the thimble before installing the wood stove. I removed the lower cleanout from the exterior chimney and just worked my way up. When I got to the top, I had my wife stand on the deck and watch for the brush; I didn't want to hammer the cap. She said she saw the brush and at about the same time, a few chunks came out of the cap and landed on me.

I have no idea when this was last cleaned and it had quite a bit of build up there. Since it only took me 20 minutes, I could see doing this again during burning season....just to be safe.

 

[mellow]

I will usually clean mine everytime I put in a new Insert, which has happened to be once a year for the past 3 years

I hope this new one works good enough to keep for more than a year.

 

[polaris]

I cleaned both of mine sat. with the soot eater from the bottom up. I didn't even get enough to fill a double duce. I think I'm gonna stick with the yearly inspection and go back to the once a decade sweeping.

 

[gibson]

Sen. JB: Did you clean from the top-down or the bottom-up? Getting ready to do mine and plan on a bottom-up cleaning so I don't have to climb a ladder.

Top down. Everything dumps into the insert.