Chimney sweep help

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splitshot

Head cook, Bottle washer, and Peace keeper.
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Nov 17, 2006
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Rodent Central, Az
Last evening I smoked the family out of the house. After climbing on the roof I found the bird wire on the flue cap totally packed in carbon.
I broke out the fiberglass rods and the brush and got everything flowing again(looked like a West Virginia coal miner):eek: . House is good,
my question is I have another woodstove in the shop that has 2 45% turns in the stovepipe, how the hell am I going to get the brush around those bends without dismantling everything.
 
The right answer is dismantle it. You can often get alot of the stuff to fall out by banging on the metal pipe. And the creosote doesn't ussually accumulate in there as much because it heats up faster and stays hotter.

I was actually just up on the roof last weekend with a similar problem. The flue looked fine, but the wire mesh on the cap was almost completely blocked.
 
For the amount of work involved, I would just toss them and get new ones. They're not that expensive, for chrissakes.
 
For the amount of work involved, I would just toss them and get new ones. They're not that expensive, for chrissakes.

Depends - if they are the double wall pipes now required in many places they are pretty expensivve. Besides - once it's apart, cleaning it is easy.
 
Why are Mary Poppins quotes running through my head????
 
Mary Poppins: Chim Chiminy, Chim Chiminy, Chim Chim Chiree/When you're with a 'sweep, you're in glad company.
Bert: Never was there a more happier crew/Than them what sings Chim Chim Chiree Chim Chiroo! Chim Chim Chiminy Chim Chim Chiree Chim Chiroo...
 
Thats funny, my kids were singing that at the top of their lungs while I was up on the roof! & "step in time".
 
Last evening I smoked the family out of the house. After climbing on the roof I found the bird wire on the flue cap totally packed in carbon.
I broke out the fiberglass rods and the brush and got everything flowing again(looked like a West Virginia coal miner):eek: . House is good,
my question is I have another woodstove in the shop that has 2 45% turns in the stovepipe, how the hell am I going to get the brush around those bends without dismantling everything.

Just tie a rope to both ends of your brush. Have a buddy over and after a few:beer: . Tell him you need his help. Go back up on your roof and drop the bottom rope down to him and you guys start pulling the thing, kinda like sawing, up and down till you feel it is clear..................:doh:
 
Just tie a rope to both ends of your brush. Have a buddy over and after a few:beer: . Tell him you need his help. Go back up on your roof and drop the bottom rope down to him and you guys start pulling the thing, kinda like sawing, up and down till you feel it is clear..................:doh:

Zactly what I was going to suggest
 
I like how the buddy is at the bottom :D


It is MUCH safer down there :D
 
my damn chimney is 40' tall with a dog knot at the top...i would gladly stay inside if i could find someone to climb the ladder to the top of that dude!...i hire a chimney sweep...once a year...$165.00...well worth it for the piece of mind...we burn alot of wood!

osagecruiser
 
you burn a lot of pine??

We always ran half Cedar and half mesquite. In 10 years we never had to clean out the chimney...


Gawd damnit.. Now that song is in my head again...
:mad:
 
nope we burn oak...walnut....hackberry...ash.... and a little hedge i think we get the cresote from burning the wood a little green....plus the height of the chimney...the gases start to cool as they reach the top and magically turn into a nasty hard black crust on the chimney cap and near the top of the chimney

osagecruiser
 
I burn oak & walnut and clean it out every 2-3 years
I'm was told to doit evey year by a number of people not all of which were pro's.
I hoodek up a brush I bought at a Home Depot and attached it to a few fiberglass ext poles (flexible) and the turned on the old shop vac
and started stroking the set up cost me less than the price of a cleaning and i can do it my self and I also use same ext pole and smaller brush on the end of my Makita drill to clean out dryer vent
I wait 10 years to do this. Wow talk about lint! Now my dyer seems to work alot better
 
Helpfull hint; make sure the rain is completely dry on a metal roof before you book you're next flight into prickly pear cactus.

I thought I was going to stop when I got to the porch because it changes pitch,
but it just launched me out in the yard further.

Didn't leave any skid marks, (the roof is brown).
 
I burn oak & walnut and clean it out every 2-3 years
I'm was told to doit evey year by a number of people not all of which were pro's.
I hoodek up a brush I bought at a Home Depot and attached it to a few fiberglass ext poles (flexible) and the turned on the old shop vac
and started stroking the set up cost me less than the price of a cleaning and i can do it my self and I also use same ext pole and smaller brush on the end of my Makita drill to clean out dryer vent
I wait 10 years to do this. Wow talk about lint! Now my dyer seems to work alot better

we usualy sugest once a year if you a burning a cord or around there a year
 
ya, once a year, and let the wood season before you burn it. watch out for that sliding off the roof thing: last year I saw a guys foot pointing the wrong 90 degrees from his shin cuz he was putting up xmas lights.

yr friendly firefighter/emt
 

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