Who cleans their own chimney?

[Bugsinrugs]

With the weather turning cooler it’s time to clean my chimneys. One on the house and one on the guest house. It’s not a hard job just dirty as sin! I use a 6 inch chimney brush with four fiberglass poles. The only issue I run into is my shop vac gets bogged down quickly. The dust is so fine it clogs my filter and I need to clean it three to four times. That’s my only issue but boy oh boy did I have a ton of creosote from last season.

[Bill Douglas]

I do.

It's a woodburner so I just clean out the box down the bottom where it's all fallen.

Yeah, I got some of the oily creosote too. I think it's from burning pine. I use all sorts of firewood so I don't get too much build up. Sometimes I run the woodburner really hot and I can hear the dried out lumps falling down the chimney.

Edit: I've got the connecting poles and brush which works OK.

[DWBOX2000]

When I worked for my grandfather on his farm, one of my annual jobs was getting on the roof, drop a chain down the chimney and swing it around. Then I’d go down to the living room to vacuum all the debris that fell. It seemed to work. House never burnt down.

[Zeke]

Bugs, get the drywall dust bag:

[TimT]

I do, I've got a Vermont Casting stove, with about 3 ' of stovepipe though the wall to a insulated T , then 15' of insulated stainless stovepipe... I just take the cap off the T tie a bag around the bottom leg of the T get on the roof and use the chimney brush... easy and fairly clean..I typically only burn hardwoods.. currently have about 2 cord of black cherry for this season... smells great when it burns..

[TimT]

Also the make AshVacs

Shop-Vac Ash Vac

Im sure you could retrofit a better filter to the vac you have

[MAS956]

I use a soot eater rotary brush attached to a cordless drill. Quick and effective:

https://www.homedepot.com/p/HY-C-SootEater-24-ft-Rotary-Chimney-Liner-Cleaning-System-SLK-24/312293878

The worst part of the project for me is getting the baffle removed from the top of he fireplace. It's heavy and awkward and half of the fire brick need to come out to have room to maneuver the thing.

[Bugsinrugs]

Originally Posted by Zeke

Bugs, get the drywall dust bag:

I’ve seen those… great idea. Thanks

[flatbutt]

I used to. When I did I made sure the wood was at least one year old and I used a stove with a catalytic second chamber. I eventually lined my masonry chimney with flexible stainless steel which made the job easier.

Like you I used the round brush on fiberglass poles with the vacuum in the pipe. I used a wet sponge filter rather than a cloth one and the vacuum was outside so any blowby wasn't an issue.

But yeah it is a dirty azz job.

[Evans, Marv]

^^^^^ Yes, it is a dirty job. I have three chimneys and use the brush head on the fiberglass screw together sections. They mostly never seem to have enough creasote to bother with, but I clean them every year. The dirty part is the vacuuming out of the fireplace where they say most of the fires start. I burn mostly oak & bought a cord this year. It's the first time I've bought firewood, since I've always found wood I could cut & aplit.

[oldE]

I do it at the end of the heating season, before the starlings start looking for places to get in. (I put hardware cloth around the top.) I have the fiberglass brush for use with the stainless flue. It's only 12 feet in total and a straight line from stove to top. I just take some screws out of the collapsible section of pipe, raise it enough to get a bucket under it, then go up onto the platform I built next to the chimney on the roof and use the brush. The bucket collects any creosote and ash and it takes about a half hour. In a few weeks I will take the screen off the flue cap and we'll be ready to burn another two cords.

[Steve Carlton]

I hire out.