solid fuel stove - chimney cleaning

galah

Hi all,

quick question: just bought a house, wanted to get the chimney cleaned - we're using a solid fuel stove.

It seems you can only get access from the roof to clean the chimney - does that make sense? According to a mate, you should be able to remove the flue from the stove to get access to the chimney from the house - or, alternatively, install a soot box. The flue does not budge, and I am wondering if they're meant to come out???

We're having a builder come round the house for something else anyway - but could someone please enlighten me as to what actually needs to be done in terms of getting that chimney cleaned, apart from getting up on that roof...

Cheers,
galah

DoneDL

Yep soot box or there should be an access plate on on the flue section from the stove to the chimney. But in the absence of either you might be able to get a brush up through the stove. Is there a liner installed?

galah

no, can't get the brush up, cause the cleaning brushes don't bend 90 degrees (you'd have to go through the stove, and that does not seem to work)...

not sure about the liner, can't see that far up. It's just a cast iron pipe (I think, black, same colour as the stove), concreted in (that's what it looks like). Would it be easy to take that out and replace it with something 'moveable'?

house was built only recently (2003), so should there be a soot box?

sorry for all the stupid questions, am new to this game...

bbam

It has to be done from top down into the stove and then cleaned out of the stove...
I wouldn't recommend removing the flue as it will not seal again without proper re0fitting...

A proper chimney cleaner will have no problems doing this...

DoneDL

Soot box is quite an old idea, not a bad idea but I haven't seen one in a new build. If the stove hasn't got a boiler then it should be reasonably easy if a bit heavy and messy to swap the flue off the stove for one with an access plate but ring a local sweep he might say that hes happy to work top to bottom.

galah

might go with the access plate in flue idea (no boiler attached) - could mean we could clean the blasted thing ourselves then.

Don't really want to chase anyone up that roof (fairly steep pitch), and I've heard that a good few chimney sweeps don't have insurance to go up roofs either...

cheers for your input, appreciated!

so we'd really just need to swap the flue? any rough idea on cost? would we need a specialist, or would our builder be able to do that?

DoneDL

Your builder might be happy to help. Car jack and timber, undo the legs, remove stove, replace flue section and reseal. But depends on what seal is at chimney and don't wear white.

rpmcs

imop the big question is if the stove flue 5or 6ins is adapted to the clay which normally is 8ins, or is there flexi ruinning the whole way up??
if its flexi then there may be fermiculite insulation in between the two flues, so undoing this could turn out messy,
just my opinion but simplest method just sweep from top and remove baffle plate in stove and clean in.

galah

was chatting to the builder, and the easiest seems to be to put a soot box in (the least messy of the jobs...).

Cheers for all your input!

bbam

Funny that the builders answer to cleaning a chimney was to build something else :rolleyes:

I couldn't imagine it will be chealer than getting a professional to do the job...

I spoke to two stove suppliers when we were installing ours and they both said that soot boxes were a thing of the past, clean them top down was their recommendation...

Best of luck...

demanufactured

Chimneys are meant to be cleaned from the top down , even with an open fire.

Most sweeps dont bother to go up on the roof and just clean it from below...cant blame them TBH, but its not the right way.

Save yourself a few bob and a lot of mess by just calling a chimney sweep.

paddy147

A professional chimney sweeper will only charge you around 60 euro to sweep and vacume out the chimney and fire place aswell.

had it done recently on my Stovax stove.

The chimney sweeper also told me that you only use a plastic(polypropelene) sweep brush on flexi flue liners or steel liners,as wire bristles cause scraping and damage to them.

galah

well, after all this, we did call out a professional chimney sweep, and he also said he wouldnt have insurance to get up onto the roof...

might try another one, it's all a little weird, really...

rpmcs

not to sound smart but in my opinion any one that cant go up a roof is not a professional, to me a professional would close of inside opeening and clean down and then vacuum up inside, but maybe im wrong, just ask over the phone is he able to work from on top?

galah

yeah, I found that a bit odd, too. But he was a professional (well, had his own company etc).

Another thing is, it seems that the soot can't fall back into the stove, there's some sort of baffler or throat plate installed, and it does not seem to come out - how do you get around that? Maybe that's the reason we need a soot box as well, to get to the soot on top of the throat plate?

very, very confused at this stage...:(

rpmcs

would be very strange if the baffle did not remove in stove, as these are replaceable parts, does it not lift and remove side bricks and then drop?
do you have/ know the make of stove?

galah

will check tonight! Cheers for all the input, I really appreciate it!

Buford T Justice

bbam wrote: »

Funny that the builders answer to cleaning a chimney was to build something else :rolleyes:

That gets posted in this forum every time someone posts saying a builder said something

galah

checked the stove, and found instructions online (Tripp stove). Even they say 'install a soot box', so I'll go with that. Found out how to remove the baffle plate as well.

slowly starting to get my head around all this stuff...:rolleyes:

any more of this and I can work in a fireplace shop...:D

cheers again!

demanufactured

DONT waste your time with a soot box....its old school and hasnt been done in years.

If you remove the baffle plate and sweep from the top down ....this is THE best way to clean your chimney.

galah

but why would the manual for the stove say that it's required?

going slightly crazy here....

different question: where's the difference in sweeping from bottom up or top down? (access etc aside)?

demanufactured

galah wrote: »

but why would the manual for the stove say that it's required?

going slightly crazy here....

different question: where's the difference in sweeping from bottom up or top down? (access etc aside)?

Because you clean the chimney more thoroughly from the top down.

There is no need for a sootbox in your installation , sootboxes were used where ranges were installed and there was a box where the soot would gather (while being swept from the top).
The fact that your flue is connected straight to your chimney means when you remove the baffle and sweep down , all the soot will be easily remoavable from the stove.

Ger.Cleansweep

demanufactured wrote: »

Because you clean the chimney more thoroughly from the top down.

There is no need for a sootbox in your installation , sootboxes were used where ranges were installed and there was a box where the soot would gather (while being swept from the top).
The fact that your flue is connected straight to your chimney means when you remove the baffle and sweep down , all the soot will be easily remoavable from the stove.

Hi Guys

New to Boards but I have to agree that the best way to clean your chimney without any fuss or mess is from the top down. The extra cost and mess req'd to break into a chimney and install a soot box wouldn't in my opinion warrant the extra cost and mess.

Leave the Baffle open or remove and refit after the cleaning. I always wrap a dust sheet around stoves. Collect the soot and any other materials in the stove.

No mess, no fuss just a happy householder

Rgds

Ger

bbam

Fingers McGee wrote: »

That gets posted in this forum every time someone posts saying a builder said something

Probably because it's true...
For advice on cleaning a chimney a chimney sweep is the person to ask.. I'd bet Ger.cleansweep and demanufactured are in the business and neither recommended ripping holes in the house and building a sootbox.

tom fada

Hi Galah,

Soot boxes are generally required if your stove has a back boiler but as previous posters have said if it's a non boiler type then there should be a removable baffle plate inside the stove. I had my chimney cleaned (by a chimney sweeper) from the top down recently, he then removed the baffle plate in the stove and vacuumed out the soot. Lovely clean mess free job.
I would assume that the instructions you have for your stove are generic and cover both boiler and non boiler types thus they mention the inclusion of a soot box. Installing a soot box at this stage (assuming you have a non boiler stove) seems ott imho.

galah

didnt check back here for a while, just a quick update:

It is done...had a soot box installed, quick and easy job (and no mess, god builder ;-)), and now we can clean that blasted chimney more easily.

From what I've heard from the chimney sweep, they also charge more to get up on the roof...

Not 100 % happy with the look of the box on the chimney (although it is small enough), but hey. For the sake of easy access, it's grand.
Cheers for all your inout though, it was an education ;-)

riccol1966

does anyone know if you clean any chimney from the top down with a stove connected, wont that mean that soot builds up around the flue coming from the stove, because the stove flue will always be smaller than the chimney flue. So as you clean downwards, soot will fall but some of it will collect and build up around the flue on the top of the stove, because of the gap ?

Hope I have explained myself, is this an issue or fire risk perhaps, does anyone know ?

Ger.Cleansweep

riccol1966 wrote: »

does anyone know if you clean any chimney from the top down with a stove connected, wont that mean that soot builds up around the flue coming from the stove, because the stove flue will always be smaller than the chimney flue. So as you clean downwards, soot will fall but some of it will collect and build up around the flue on the top of the stove, because of the gap ?

Hope I have explained myself, is this an issue or fire risk perhaps, does anyone know ?

Hi Riccol

If there is a flue reducer fitted to the steel flue that leaves the stove? As it enters into the 8", 200mm dia flue liner that continues up the length of the chimney to the top. The soot will fall into the funnel like reducer thus making it's own way down to the stove! If no reducer is fitted then cances are its a straight metal into stone connection and I would say there is rocwol wadding pushed into the gap! If this is the case there will be some build up of soot at the top of the smaller dia metal flue. Remove the wadding carefully and have a vaccuum at hand as you do this so as to avoid any unnecessary accidents.

I hope this helps Riccol

Rgds Ger

Stratus

Just in the defence of the chimney sweep that don’t go up on the roof, the reason for that was an other brain wave by this government to force any body trades mainly on building sites to pay exorbitant fee's for insurance once the person climbs/rises 1 meter of the ground and never mind the myriad of Safety courses one would have to attend (@huge costs) every couple of years to renew this qualification, its such a ridiculous cost that i don’t blame companies for not rising/climbing more than one meter. that’s my rant for the evening LOL P.S a person needs a safety ticket to use a grinder on a site !! oh oh one trade carpenter or plasterer cant remember which was telling me a while back that that you have to where a safety harness when you go above a certain height some thing like a meter or two but the rope that is attached to these harness are a fixed length or some but basically what he said to the safety officer on site when he was told to wear it was what is a 2 meter length of rope going to do for me if I’m only 1meter of the ground f all but he had one answer its regulation blah blah

rochestown

I have just come back from my uncles house where they have recently gotten a stove installed with a steel flexy flue liner - the installer said that he should never need to get the liner cleaned, just to once a year have a roaring fire and that should clean it right out - is there any truth in this? Thanks..

jiggerypokery

rochestown wrote: »

I have just come back from my uncles house where they have recently gotten a stove installed with a steel flexy flue liner - the installer said that he should never need to get the liner cleaned, just to once a year have a roaring fire and that should clean it right out - is there any truth in this? Thanks..

I'd advise your uncle to have that installation checked by a professional. This guy doesn't have a clue. All chimney types must be cleaned once a year.

littlevillage

I am currently installing a new solid wood stove.

I have removed an old Stanley 9 range.. I range/stove pipe entrance into a soot box and a seperate door to access to the soot box for cleaning.

if I go with a flexi flue liner and vermiculite filler ... the vermiculite will basically fill up my soot box and the rest of the flue space,right ?

I am now wondering how I am going to clean the chimney after I install the flexi flue ? from previous comments the flexi flue will still need cleaning.. and there will be a right angle joint (between flexiflue and stove pipe someplace inside the soot box). Its not going to be possible to clean the flexible flue from the stove ... especially if someone needs to go on top of the chimney :-(

my original clay flue liners are in reasonably good shape should I just plug the new stove into the old range pipe opening
any thoughts ?

crock!

Put two 45 from stove to flexible liner and there will be no problem cleaning it from the bottom.a fexible liner should be cleaned twice a year in most cases.

littlevillage

Thanks Crock .. good think regarding the 2 x 45 deg bends instead of 1 x 90 deg. Will let ye know how I get on.