diy fireplace chimney cleaning

deandean

I have the sewer rods and i see the cleaning brush head in the local hardware shop.
Anyone cleaned their own chimney? Is there much mess; any tips?
Thanks,
Dean

jezko

From my latest experience get a real Pro to do this Job... It might Cost you 50 - 100 Euro ...Once a Year ....

Beaware of Carbon Monoxide

antocann

deandean wrote: »

I have the sewer rods and i see the cleaning brush head in the local hardware shop.
Anyone cleaned their own chimney? Is there much mess; any tips?
Thanks,
Dean

easy enough to clean , can get messy depends how bad it is ,
just have news paper handy to gather the sut , all should be good , just attach the brush and shove it up the fire , repeat several times and thats the job done , dont take more than 5 minutes

JMSE

Try to cover the fire opening with plastic taped around it, with just enough wriggle room to work the rods up, handy to have a hoover on beside you as you do it and I dont mean the old fashioned standup one hehe. Anyway the plastic sheet is normally half off and useless by the time just the 2nd rod is going up but thats the fun of it all. Make sure there isnt an anti-nest device sitting atop the chimney pot or you could send it crashing down onto your neighbours cabriolet, if there is just go gentle and have someone eyeball the pot outside. I think 8 rods will get you out for a normal 2-storey

TopTec

Absolutely do it yourself. Not a difficult job just be thorough. If your chimney is anything like mine there is a sloping ledge just above the level of the opening where the fire back sits. I always don a rubber glove and using an old brush to sweep out any mess there.

I do mine 3 or 4 times a year. It is a messy job but just take your time. Have fun. Soot has its own peculiar smell too.

TT

slimjimmc

Needless to say only sweep when the chimney is cold.
Have a plastic sheet laid out ready to receive the dirty rods as you remove them and give them a light wipe with a slightly damp cloth to clean off loose dust just in case you happen to nudge off anything as you bring them out of the room.

Gareth2011

Im going to do mine myself now fairly soon just need to borrow rods. You say push the rods up the chimney? How is this possible if you have fireplace covered over with newpapers/sheet taped on?

Carlow52

Gareth2011 wrote: »

Im going to do mine myself now fairly soon just need to borrow rods. You say push the rods up the chimney? How is this possible if you have fireplace covered over with newpapers/sheet taped on?

there is a slit in it for pushing in your hands and the brushes: the theory is that the paper stops the soot flying out into the room

anonanymore

Put a small hole in the cover.
I use a piece of cloth to cover the fireplace, wedged in place with 2x1 battons.
Remember to give a slight clockwise twist to the rods when pushing up or down to ensure they don't separate.

braintoxic

Gareth2011 wrote: »

Im going to do mine myself now fairly soon just need to borrow rods. You say push the rods up the chimney? How is this possible if you have fireplace covered over with newpapers/sheet taped on?

I have a piece of ply cut so that its bigger the the opening of the fireplace .iv attached a strip of sponge to the face of it with 20 mil screws and pva glue.when i press this to the fire place it makes a seal . I cut a slit in d centre of the board just wide enough for the rods .i push d first rod through and attach d brush n press the board to d fireplace ..

this bit is optional ..i have attached two flaps of rubber to the slit i cut so they overlap .this way no soot gets out as the rubber hugs the rods as i push them in and out . I cover the end of tbe board with an old towell that i dampen.and i have bought an ash vaccume that i cut a hole in the board so that the nozzel fits in .all i do is hold d board with my free hand or kness so that the sponge causes a seal .

Gareth2011

Great stuff thats what I was thinking. Brain you seem to have a nice setup there.

Carlow52

Gareth2011 wrote: »

Great stuff thats what I was thinking. Brain you seem to have a nice setup there.

just be aware that sewer rods are very rigid and u can easily damage the flue if over zealous if u meet resistance: a good quality brush will help keep the head of the rod away from the flue

braintoxic

My dad always tied a rope to the brush head in case it comes off half way up the chimney.iv heard of people duct taping the joints after screwing them together but i find if i push up and twist clockways it keeps d brush head on tight .if you were unsure id duck tape the joints

braintoxic

Gareth2011 wrote: »

Great stuff thats what I was thinking. Brain you seem to have a nice setup there.

If your going to do it this way .cut the slit about 300 mm long and 50 mm wide because the rods will need room to travel or the just get stuck in d board .but the overlapped rubber will seal as move so no point squeezing urself up .

Gareth2011

What if I was to seal up foreplace and stand on roof and do chimney that way. Would that work? Also while im here can excess sut cause paint to kind of press out from wall in one area? the part is brown so there is like purple type barnicles on one of the patches. The pic shows kitchen and bedroom. The stove in kitchen is sat in a deprerssion in the stonework and this is pressed out in my bedroom. There is a fireplace in my bedroom (never used) and the stove both use this chimney. Bubbles.JPG

braintoxic

Gareth2011 wrote: »

What if I was to seal up foreplace and stand on roof and do chimney that way. Would that work? Also while im here can excess sut cause paint to kind of press out from wall in one area? the part is brown so there is like purple type barnicles on one of the patches. The pic shows kitchen and bedroom. The stove in kitchen is sat in a deprerssion in the stonework and this is pressed out in my bedroom. There is a fireplace in my bedroom (never used) and the stove both use this chimney. Bubbles.JPG

Hey buddy .i strongly suggest u pick off the bubbling paing n chip into the plaster . If u smell or see soot or smoke then u are in trouble . You have carbon monoxide leaking into your bedroom.you will have to open the chimney breast and get it sorted. Thats serious my friend .look it up

braintoxic

Gareth2011 wrote: »

What if I was to seal up foreplace and stand on roof and do chimney that way. Would that work? Also while im here can excess sut cause paint to kind of press out from wall in one area? the part is brown so there is like purple type barnicles on one of the patches. The pic shows kitchen and bedroom. The stove in kitchen is sat in a deprerssion in the stonework and this is pressed out in my bedroom. There is a fireplace in my bedroom (never used) and the stove both use this chimney. Bubbles.JPG

Hey buddy .i strongly suggest u pick off the bubbling paing n chip into the plaster . If u smell or see soot or smoke then u are in trouble . You have carbon monoxide leaking into your bedroom.you will have to open the chimney breast and get it sorted. Thats serious my friend .look it up

Gareth2011

So sick of this house. you think that could be because the chimney hasnt been cleaned in years?

braintoxic

Gareth2011 wrote: »

So sick of this house. you think that could be because the chimney hasnt been cleaned in years?

No that would have nothing to do with it .open up the area that bubbling out .u may be able to seal it up easily.

Gareth2011

braintoxic wrote: »

No that would have nothing to do with it .open up the area that bubbling out .u may be able to seal it up easily.

Said it to the wife she doesnt want me to go diggin at the plaster which is understandable as were not exactly cash flush but ill see what happens when she comes home n sees it. I opened up the 2 vents in the room and what did I discover? In both vents the previous owners had put sheets crushed up to stop the air flow from outside to inside. Have you ever heard of anything so bloody stupid as to knowingly block vents. Have to check the kitchen ones now too tomorrow :mad: this would explain why the windows fog up when its cold out.

braintoxic

Gareth2011 wrote: »

braintoxic wrote: »

No that would have nothing to do with it .open up the area that bubbling out .u may be able to seal it up easily.

Said it to the wife she doesnt want me to go diggin at the plaster which is understandable as were not exactly cash flush but ill see what happens when she comes home n sees it. I opened up the 2 vents in the room and what did I discover? In both vents the previous owners had put sheets crushed up to stop the air flow from outside to inside. Have you ever heard of anything so bloody stupid as to knowingly block vents. Have to check the kitchen ones now too tomorrow :mad: this would explain why the windows fog up when its cold out.

Where are u from do mind me asking?

benjydagg

Try this and never worry about cleaning your chimney again! Chimneysafe.com

benjydagg

Try this and never worry about cleaning your chimney again! Chimneysafe.com

Stained Class

TopTec wrote: »

I do mine 3 or 4 times a year.

Wow.

Some good tips on this thread lads.

Got a phonecall from a neighbour last night telling me there was flames coming out of my chimney.:eek:

I doused the fire & luckily there was no harm done.

The house is 9 years old & yep, you guessed it the chimney was never cleaned.

Borrowed the rods n brushes from Class Sr today & will tackle it at the weekend.:D

Gareth2011

braintoxic wrote: »

Where are u from do mind me asking?

Laois mate.

braintoxic

Gareth2011 wrote: »

braintoxic wrote: »

Where are u from do mind me asking?

Laois mate.[/Quote
Go and buy a carbon monoxide alarm .

Gareth2011

braintoxic wrote: »

Gareth2011 wrote: »

Laois mate.[/Quote
Go and buy a carbon monoxide alarm .

Yeah thats what the wife said . I saw one online for 20 quid on offer for daily mail readers I think iy was. Didnt say anything about having coupon from newspaper either. They all seem the same except one might have more buttons or functions than the others but they all do the same job. Might see if its still there. Cheers brain

Stained Class

Stained Class wrote: »

Wow.

Some good tips on this thread lads.

Got a phonecall from a neighbour last night telling me there was flames coming out of my chimney.:eek:

I doused the fire & luckily there was no harm done.

The house is 9 years old & yep, you guessed it the chimney was never cleaned.

Borrowed the rods n brushes from Class Sr today & will tackle it at the weekend.:D

Update!

Cleaned it out yesterday.


Got a binbag & some masking tape & sealed off the front of the fireplace.

Took 8 rods to get to the top.

Gathered enough soot to fill an 10 litre bucket.

I thought that it was very little considering that the chimney hadn't been cleaned in 9 years.

A neighbour said that the chimney fire probably burned out most of the 'residue'.

Have used the fireplace the last couple of days & no probs.:)

Al Capwned

Just a tip from a chimney cleaner (me!!!) to keep the brush on the rods without the need for a rope - keep turning the rods clockwise as you push / pull them up and down the chimney - keeps all the joints between the rods nice and tight too .

Stained Class

alproctor wrote: »

Just a tip from a chimney cleaner (me!!!) to keep the brush on the rods without the need for a rope - keep turning the rods clockwise as you push / pull them up and down the chimney - keeps all the joints between the rods nice and tight too .

Yeah, Class Sr advised me on this.

It's easy to lose equipment up the chimney if you go anticlockwise.:D

Also, when bringing down the rods, I made sure to wipe clean them as they came out to avoid the carpet gettin dirty.

I found that Baby Wipes were an easy solution.

Gareth2011

Stained Class wrote: »

Update!

Cleaned it out yesterday.


Got a binbag & some masking tape & sealed off the front of the fireplace.

Took 8 rods to get to the top.

Gathered enough soot to fill an 10 litre bucket.

I thought that it was very little considering that the chimney hadn't been cleaned in 9 years.

A neighbour said that the chimney fire probably burned out most of the 'residue'.

Have used the fireplace the last couple of days & no probs.:)

:cool: You did it from the fireplace up or the roof down?

Stained Class

Gareth2011 wrote: »

:cool: You did it from the fireplace up or the roof down?

Fireplace up.

I cut a small hole in the binbag & pushed thru the first rod & attached the brush to it before taping it to the fireplace.

A little bit fiddly, but it worked.

Gareth2011

I need to clean mine out badly. The one in sitting room get soot all over the carpet from it constantly falling down chimney if its rainy or even windy.I do light that fire but you know the flames can high if you put on fresh fuel so I worry bout it sparkin like yours did. Did it take you long? I have 2 to do but the other one il need to do from roof down as its leading into a stove.

tinofapples

deandean wrote: »

I have the sewer rods and i see the cleaning brush head in the local hardware shop.
Anyone cleaned their own chimney? Is there much mess; any tips?
Thanks,
Dean

Absolutely do it yourself, not a difficult job and the more you do it the easier it will get.

Gareth2011

Its not a problem cleaning it from top down is it? In my previous post I said one of the chimneys is going from a stove so I figure I can clean it from roof and then hoover out the soot from the flue at back of stove?

Stained Class

Gareth2011 wrote: »

I need to clean mine out badly. The one in sitting room get soot all over the carpet from it constantly falling down chimney if its rainy or even windy.I do light that fire but you know the flames can high if you put on fresh fuel so I worry bout it sparkin like yours did. Did it take you long? I have 2 to do but the other one il need to do from roof down as its leading into a stove.

It took me about an hour or so, between looking for the things that were needed & actually doing the job. It was straighforward enough as I've a modern house with a straight chimney.

Gareth2011 wrote: »

Its not a problem cleaning it from top down is it? In my previous post I said one of the chimneys is going from a stove so I figure I can clean it from roof and then hoover out the soot from the flue at back of stove?

I'd have preferred to have gone from the top down actually, but it's a 2 storey house & I didn't have access to a ladder.

Gareth2011

Ah right well im only in bungalow so should be alright

DK man

I have a stove in kitchen with a pipe going out top of stove for about 5 feet before going into flu in wall. How can I clean this as there is a 90o bend on it???

Thanks

Stoner

DK can you open a new thread for this please