Rutland 6" Poly Brush and Rutland 18' fiberglass rods

[pittpizza]

Hi everybody! I have a Blaze King Ashford 25 insert that I used as my primary heat all last winter. I only turned my furnace on when I was out of town. It was newly installed LAST summer and has exactly 1 year worth of creosote built up from near constant burning all winter. As winter approaches many of us are thinking about the maintenance of our wood heating systems and I for one have [had] ZERO experience sweeping a chimney.

HOWEVER, I am pretty handy and don't mind getting on my roof. When I called around and found that the going rate around SW Pennsylvania is about $200 for a sweep, I was convinced to DIY. One outfit told me the "Inspection" was 199 and the cleaning started at another $100.

Anyway I found and Purchased the Rutland 6" brush and went with POLY since I have a stainless steel 6" liner. It was $15 at HD. I also bought the rods there for another $29 so it was about 49 out the door.

MAN was it EASY!! The brush worked great. Upon inspection the only creosote I found was light brown and powdery and the brush fit in perfectly. It was just snug enough that it felt like it was abrading the liner perfectly but not too big that I was worried about dislodging or breaking the liner during the cleaning. Northline Express has some good how-to videos on YouTube and that is pretty much how I did it.

With just a screwdriver (for cap on top) and this brush system I was able to get it VERY clean with minimum effort. I just opened the damper, closed the front door and scrubbed away. Then I scooped out the soot with little effort.

If you are thinking about the Rutland chimney sweeping products they're great and you can DIY!

 

[tadmaz]

100% ditto of what I did, except my liner and brush are 5.5".

 

[Grateful11]

I agree pittpizza. We have the exact same Rutland system, I bought ours from Amazon. It works great in our 6" stainless liner. I always tie a rope to the bottom eye of the brush and drop it down the liner before starting, just in case it gets stuck and we need to pull down from underneath. I burned so little last season I may let it go but I found an easier way to get the vermiculite baffles out of the way without disassembling anything in our Century stove so it's easy enough to clean once or twice a season I'll probably go ahead and sweep it in a couple weeks, no cold weather here yet.

 

[Sean McGillicuddy]

I have the same setup as well … for my other flue 4.5" I use the " soot eater"..

 

[pittpizza]

I've seen the soot eater advertised as well. If it's what I think it is, it's basically a spinning ball with weed whacker string sticking out of it. I can't imagine it is as effective as a size-specific brush but I'm interested to hear how effective you think it is?

One question to the group: You don't spin the brush as you sweep the chimney right? You just move it up and down and that is it correct? Seems unnecessary to spin it in a circular motion.

 

[Sean McGillicuddy]

My second flue has a couple of turns … you spin ( drill mounted )the soot eater as you pull it up and down .. 3' at a time . works great.

 

[Grateful11]

I've seen the soot eater advertised as well. If it's what I think it is, it's basically a spinning ball with weed whacker string sticking out of it. I can't imagine it is as effective as a size-specific brush but I'm interested to hear how effective you think it is?

One question to the group: You don't spin the brush as you sweep the chimney right? You just move it up and down and that is it correct? Seems unnecessary to spin it in a circular motion.

I'm not able to spin mine, too tight. Cleans it great just up and own.

 

[johneh]

Up and Down for the last 40 years for me
Why change

 

[blacktail]

I don't even scoop out the crud. It disappears with the next fire.

 

[pittpizza]

This is going to sound weird, but I felt like the friggin king of the world up on top of my roof sweeping my chimney out. It made me feel like such a "man's man."

I was hoping my neighbors would come out and marvel at my DIY spirit. It felt like I was Leo DiCaprio on the bow of the titanic! I wanted to shout from the mountain top "Look at me!! I'm sweeping my chimney!! I'm doing it! It's actually working great! Ah ha ha ha ha HAAAA"!!

Also before I went up there, but after I unboxed the brush and the rods, I queued up the part of Mary Poppins where Dick Van Dyke sings that "Chim Chiminey Chim Chiminey Chim Chim Charoo" part and cast it onto my main TV while I was dancing around my living room with the (still clean) chimney brush and rod hung over my shoulder.

My dog was barking, 6 yo son was laughing, 9 yo daughter was annoyed/embarassed, and wife was shaking her head in disapproval. The whole damn thing was glorious.

 

[Sean McGillicuddy]

This is what I'm seeing ..

 

[thrifty]

I clean my chimney from the top. Even with the insert doors and air intake vents closed tight, creosote dust would rise out of the liner and blow on my face and clothes. To stop this I drilled a small hole in the bottom of a 7 inch dia. plastic bucket. The fiber glass rod slides through the hole and attaches to the brush which is now inside the bucket. When I push the brush into the 6 inch liner the bucket drops over the open liner top preventing any dust from escaping during the cleaning.

 

[Grateful11]

This is going to sound weird, but I felt like the friggin king of the world up on top of my roof sweeping my chimney out. It made me feel like such a "man's man."

I was hoping my neighbors would come out and marvel at my DIY spirit. It felt like I was Leo DiCaprio on the bow of the titanic! I wanted to shout from the mountain top "Look at me!! I'm sweeping my chimney!! I'm doing it! It's actually working great! Ah ha ha ha ha HAAAA"!!

Also before I went up there, but after I unboxed the brush and the rods, I queued up the part of Mary Poppins where Dick Van Dyke sings that "Chim Chiminey Chim Chiminey Chim Chim Charoo" part and cast it onto my main TV while I was dancing around my living room with the (still clean) chimney brush and rod hung over my shoulder.

My dog was barking, 6 yo son was laughing, 9 yo daughter was annoyed/embarassed, and wife was shaking her head in disapproval. The whole damn thing was glorious.

Hey pittpizza I think I found you.