*UPDATE*Chimney sweeping - had it cleaned yesterday

[CowboyAndy]

Okay, i'm a total virgin (well, my liner is a virgin). But, we realized that we need to do a midseason cleaning due to using less than seasoned wood so far.

I contacted a chimney sweep from my area who gave me a price of $111 plus tax to do a top down on the chimney, plus the pipe that goes from the furnace to the flue, and clean the inside of the firebox. Does that sound reasonable?

Anyone in upstate NY (plattsburg, malone, northern adironkacks) that can tell me anything about this guy (goes by "the chimney sweep") or recommend anyone else?

Also, I would like to do it myself from now on, but can't seem to find an oval brush. My liner is like 6x10 oval or something close to that.

 

[savageactor7]

Yep that's reasonable...watch how he does it Andy and you can save yourself some coin.

 

[CowboyAndy]

Ya, I plan to do it myself, just having a hard time finding the right brush...

 

[CowboyAndy]

Well, we had it cleaned yesterday. I have to say, the guy was very good, explained everything to me. Cleaned up all his mess and didn't steal anything!

So, for the results. He said that we are naturally handicapped due to having an exterior chimney and the fact that there are 3 90 degree bends in it. That being said, he thinks that its not the worst he has seen, but certainly not the best. He said he could tell that we had been burning wet wood and now are burning dry wood due to the fact that the creosote was totally dry but there was a bit of it. He said if we were to have a chimney fire, it would be pretty short lived. The pipe from the furnace to the wall was by far the worst, with about 3/4 - 1" of buildup, but cleaned pretty easily. The rest of the liner had 1/4 - 1/2" of buildup, and he said that it would be more if we didn't have a SS liner. He ended up with about 4 gallons of junk when it was all said and done.

Also, he said he just used a round 8" brush (our liner is oval) and that it worked just fine, was just a little tight. So, I'll be buying me an 8" brush to DIY this next time.

 

[Jags]

He ended up with about 4 gallons of junk when it was all said and done.

Yeeow! That would have me all excited :bug:

 

[gpcollen1]

Yeah, you could just buy a round brush and trim it a bit or you could buy a rectangular brush and trim that one.

 

[savageactor7]

Andy with 3- 90* bends I'm surprised the buildup wasn't closer to the top. I'm thinking as you get ahead in 'seasoned' wood you'll have less and less creosote . Just glad I don't I don't have to clean 3- 90's... YIKES!

CTwoodburner has a good idea with trimming a round brush.

 

[CowboyAndy]

Andy with 3- 90* bends I'm surprised the buildup wasn't closer to the top. I'm thinking as you get ahead in 'seasoned' wood you'll have less and less creosote . Just glad I don't I don't have to clean 3- 90's... YIKES!

CTwoodburner has a good idea with trimming a round brush.

Well, actually cleaning them was easy, because 2 are in the basement in the pipe going from the furnace to the flue and the other is where it goes through the wall and up the side of the house, so its really not cleaning that 90 because the brush is just going straight down from the top.