Who sweeps their own chimney

[Dalmatian90]

Ok...

Stainless Steel chimney.

What's better: Clean in spring after the season is done, or clean in early fall before woodstove season begins?

 

[splittah]

I have a triple wall SS 8" stovepipe, 3 lengths of rod and a metal brush. I have done my own cleaning for 17 years.

I disconnect the stovepipe at the stove, tape a garbage bag over the end that comes through the ceiling, and clean the short section that was removed with a brush by hand. I Then get up on the roof, remove the cap and brush away. It takes me about 1/2 hour to do it all.

I do it in the spring after burning for the year and I do it once quick in the fall just before burning for the first time just to make sure there are no bees nests or bird nests in there. never had any problems yet.

Happy burning..

 

[Suz]

I've got a story and a half home with a 9/12 pitch roof so during the winter months it is almost impossible to climb up to drop a brush down the chimney. So, many years ago I made a bracket that fits on top of the chimney with a pulley in the center and another on the outside edge. I have a 3/16ths stainless steel aircraft cable that makes a loop from the bottom through the two pulleys and back down again.
I open the clean-out door on the bottom, shove a brush in that has a cable attached to the bottom, and pull it up with the looped cable and pull it back down with the cable that is attached to the bottom of the brush.
Once in awhile I have to be ready to close the clean-out door if I hear some soot falling so I don't get a face full of dust!!
Works good and I don't have to climb on the roof, worry about falling off, and taking years of wear off the shingles.
BTW, for my own mental well being, I like to clean the chimney every two months during the heating season. I get a good feeling when I can pull the brush all the way to the top with no resistance and only about a quart of soot falls to the bottom.

 

[Boogieman142]

my chimney has never been swept, it is 29 yrs old. Everytime i look at it there is nothing in it.

 

[mattmc2003]

I have heard of some folks taking a small length of chain, tied on the end of a rope/ Drop it down the chimney, jingling it round and round all the way down. It knocks all the loose stuff loose. Then just rake it out from the bottom cleanout door.

 

[mga]

my chimney has never been swept, it is 29 yrs old. Everytime i look at it there is nothing in it.

ya know....i think it has to do with the design of the chimney and the type of burning one has to do. as i said earlier, i swept mine saturday for the first time since 1979, and it wasn't worth the effort.

i burn 24/7 during the winter and i burn any wood i get my hands on, including pine and other soft woods. my clay tiles were still visible before i ran the brush down. also, i never shut my damper either. it's always wide open.

i read on here where some people have a 1/4" of creosote built up. so, it must have something to do with the chimney designs.

 

[Dalmatian90]

Is it the chimney...or is it the woodstove?

I'm thinking stoves with secondary burn tubes or similiar features designed for more complete combustion will eliminate the unburnt fuel from the smoke before it can condense on the chimney walls in the form of creosote.

 

[rngrchad]

I do.

The snow has begun falling and I decided I had better get up on the roof ASAP to do the winter chimney clean. I always know it's time to do this because when I open the stove door and instead of the smoke rushing up the chimney a bit will come out of the stove into my face. I Got a bit of creosote out of it today. Not an abnormal amount but just enough to warrant my troubles. It seems that my chimney has the worst buildup the first 5 ft behind the stove. I filled a 5 gal tin can with the crust. Hopefully this will be my last time doing it this winter.

 

[wdchuck]

Add us to the list.

Up and down six times, from the outside top-down, call it a beertini job.

 

[DonB]

I use a 8" round wire brush, weighted with a brick, on a rope. Drop the brickbrush downhole repeatedly until it smoothly reaches bottom. Every year before burning season.

 

[magna19]

at least every 2 weeks i go up and run the brush down it for insurance that it doesnt plug or catch fire.ive had it on fire 3 times in the past 25 yrs or so,and never had a problem with it,but does it sure clean it right out though!!!!

 

[RuralCruiser007]

I don't know how you guys do it!!!

I am only running 8" chimney, but no matter how I try, I can only reach down about 4 feet with my wife's broom(she really gets pissed when I grab her riding broom). For some reason she gets mad at me every time! I even have gone to the circus and tried to get some of the people there to fit down the chimney. No matter what I try I cannot get my chimney clean!

:deadhorse:







Now on a serious note:

I clean the chimney at least once a year. This year have already cleaned it twice and am to clean it this week when the temperature warms up. I just feel better when I have the chance to clean it.


Glenn

 

[PARAL]

I have a metal chimney in my shop for the first time in my life. never had 6 inch SS before but plan on doing it from the bottom up as I have a metal roof Aint going up there for nothing!So nylon bush is best??I need to buy the stuff to do it with Will home depot have this stuff?

Just went to my local HD in NJ and they only had wire brushes for my 6" SS.

 

[splittah]

Just went to my local HD in NJ and they only had wire brushes for my 6" SS.

Around my area and in over 30 years of burning stoves at one time or another I have never seen or heard of a nylon brush for SS stove pipe.. even at the stove shops around here I have never seen one.

IMO, what is so fragile in a SS chimney to warrant one? SS is tougher than a wire brush.

just my 2 cents.

 

[PARAL]

Around my area and in over 30 years of burning stoves at one time or another I have never seen or heard of a nylon brush for SS stove pipe.. even at the stove shops around here I have never seen one.

IMO, what is so fragile in a SS chimney to warrant one? SS is tougher than a wire brush.

just my 2 cents.

I think they were intending to say "poly" brush ... not nylon.

Here is one on amazon http://www.amazon.com/Rutland-Round-Chimney-Brush-16908/dp/B000FKBZH2/ref=sr_1_13?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1232984731&sr=8-13

The idea that people have been discussing is that over time wire could scratch up the SS and there by decrease it's life expectancy. However, I doubt that there is any proof for this. In my case, I don't have a brush yet so I might as well get a poly one just to be safe.

 

[FJH]

Just went to my local HD in NJ and they only had wire brushes for my 6" SS.

I wonder if metal brushes will delife the ss chimney?
Any one know?

 

[coog]

I don't know, but I'm pretty sure you just coined a new word. Can I go to jail if I "delife" you?

 

[splittah]

I think they were intending to say "poly" brush ... not nylon.

Here is one on amazon http://www.amazon.com/Rutland-Round-Chimney-Brush-16908/dp/B000FKBZH2/ref=sr_1_13?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1232984731&sr=8-13

The idea that people have been discussing is that over time wire could scratch up the SS and there by decrease it's life expectancy. However, I doubt that there is any proof for this. In my case, I don't have a brush yet so I might as well get a poly one just to be safe.

I have never even seen a "poly" one at the wood stove retail places here either.

I understand what they have been discussing and to me, it does not seem possible that you could shorten the life of a ss stovepipe with a metal brush considering the ss is much harder than a mild steel brush.

 

[coog]

I wonder if the reason that a poly brush is recommended is that they are more pliable and able to get into the individual ribs better than a steel brush.I have always used steel brushes on mine.

 

[Mike PA]

I clean mine with an old towel. Ball it up, tie it to a rope, and drop the rope down the chimney - pull it through from the bottom. Only need to do it once. Cheap, quick, and easy.