Cleaning A Chimney By Yourself

Chimney Cleaning — If you utilize your fireplace or wood stove regularly but can not remember the last time your chimney was cleaned, it’s possibly overdue. Oftentimes, you can clean up the chimney yourself as well as save a few hundred bucks. Removing regular chimney soot is rather basic. Yet if you have heavy creosote accumulation, you’ll need to call in a pro. We’ll show you just how to check yours to see if it qualifies as a DIY task. If it does, just adhere to these steps. Otherwise, employ an expert team to do the Chimney Cleaning for you.

Chimney Fires Destroy Homes

Creosote buildup may not look dangerous, however it stirs up at a mere 451 degrees F, and as soon as it begins burning, it extends like foam sealant. In less than a min, it develops to more than 2,000 degrees F as well as can engulf your entire chimney and damage your home. Even if you clean your chimney consistently, you must still have it inspected by a certified chimney sweep once a year. Qualified chimney sweeper are trained to identify chimney degeneration and also venting problems as well as can analyze your fireplace chimney’s problem. If you shed mostly eco-friendly (damp) logs, have your chimney cleaned up or checked every 50 burns. If you see moisture gurgling out the ends of the logs when they’re shedding, the wood is wet. This eco-friendly timber doesn’t shed cleanly as well as sends a lot of unburned bits (smoke) up the chimney, where they develop as creosote and also residue. Dry hardwoods, such as oak as well as birch, burn hotter as well as cleaner. With them, have your fire place chimney cleaned up or evaluated every 70 burns.

Do an Inspection
Strap on safety glasses as well as a respirator, clean the ashes out of the firebox and also remove the grate. Then open up a door or home window and wait a couple of minutes before opening the damper so the stress match. After that open up the damper and wait a couple of even more mins for heat to increase from your home. Grab your brightest flashlight and also a fireplace casino poker as well as lean into the firebox. Radiate your light into the smoke chamber and also flue as well as use the online poker to scratch the surface. If the soot has a matte black surface as well as the scratch is 1/8 in. deep or much less, it’s a do it yourself work. However if the buildup is deeper or has a glossy, tar-like appearance, you have heavy creosote build-up. Quit using your fire place promptly and call a professional chimney sweep.

Step-by-step

1. Get the Right Cleaning Devices: Suit the Brush To the Flue Lining
Get a metal bristle brush for a clay flue liner as well as a brush with plastic bristles for a steel lining.
Buy sufficient rods to handle the entire elevation of your fire place chimney.

2. Obtain Unique Brushes for the Firebox
Purchase a flexible “noodle brush” to clean the smoke rack as well as a long-handled brush to clean residue off the sides of the firebox.
Pro pointer: There’s no “one-size-fits-all” brush for cleaning up the flue. So you’ll have to climb up on your roof covering as well as gauge the size of your flue liner.

3. Minimize the Mess: Secure Your Inside
Lay a canvas tarpaulin over the hearth as well as spread it right into the area.
After that tape poly sheeting over the fire place as well as put a store vacuum tube.
Seal everything with duct tape.

4. Vent To the Outdoors
Add sections to extend the vacuum cleaner hose, then connect it to your shop vacuum outside.
Run the vacuum cleaner while you brush, and replace the filter when it obstructs.
Prior to you start brushing, shield your home’s interior from soot with poly sheeting, a canvas tarp as well as a shop vacuum cleaner.
Many shop vacuum filters can’t catch all the fine soot from a fireplace, as well as several of it will certainly blow appropriate out the exhaust port.
Pro tip: So purchase added lengths of vacuum cleaner hose and also move the vacuum cleaner outside.
Then close the doors and also windows on that side of your home to avoid the soot from re-entering your home.

5. The Cleansing Process: Brush the Flue
Ram the cleansing brush up and down a number of times in a little area of the flue to eliminate chimney residue.
Use a bright flashlight to check your work before carrying on to the next section.
Beginning the vacuum cleaner and also begin fire place cleansing at the top of the chimney.
Proceed including rods and also relocating down the fireplace chimney till you can not really feel anymore brush resistance.
That suggests you have actually gotten to the smoke chamber and it’s time to get down from the roofing system as well as job from inside the firebox.
Peel back a small portion of the poly sheeting as well as utilize the long-handled brush to clean up the smoke chamber.
Use the noodle brush to remove all the residue from the smoke rack.
After that switch over back to the long-handled brush to clean up the sides of the firebox.
Complete by vacuuming the whole firebox.
After that fold the poly sheet and also the canvas tarpaulin as well as move them outside.
Shake them out and also reuse them the following time you clean up the fire place chimney.

Beyond Just a Simple Sweep
Difference Between Chimney Sweeping and Flue Cleaning