Chimney Cleaning - Rods or Rope?

[kbrown]

I clean mine from the top with rods. My roof isn't that bad to get up and down from. I like using the rods because you can do a scrubbing technique with them. What I mean is i put the brush in the liner scrub up and down, lower the brush some more, scrub in that area up and down a couple of times and just keep moving down the liner a little at a time. I have one very flexable rod that I attach to the brush and then all of the other rods that I attach to the flexable one are a bit more rigid. This way the flexable rod can bend as the liner bends into the stove. I like to clean from the top down because I think it is cleaner then from the bottom up. Just remove the baffle plates in the stove. Close up the stove and start cleaning the pipe. When your done sweeping wait a couple of minutes for the dust in the stove to settle. Open the door, shovel out what came down, a little light vaccuuming and your done.

That's the way I did it this year for the first time. Got the brush and rods from Lowes. No problems at all and happy to have saved the money!

 

[woodjack]

My chimney sweep charges $200 so I go to the bank and get $200 in quarters and have them put it in a pouch. Go home, tie the pouch to a rope on one end, and a chimney brush on the other. Go on the roof and drop the pouch of change in the chimney. Rush back down to the woodstove to find my jackpot. . . and a clean flue.

"Bottoms up!"

 

[LLigetfa]

My dad would use a sack of hammers (actually just their heads). He made a ball out of chicken wire and the hammer and axe heads, tied a rope to it and dropped it down the flue. Too bad he didn't do it to all of his chimneys.

 

[Drumaz]

so for a 6" Class A - Do I get a 6" or an 8" brush? Should it be POLY or metal ?

 

[Adios Pantalones]

WOW! You are getting your flue cleaned for about half the going price, I hope they are doing the whole job. If you are going to do it yourself make sure you get a system with positive connections, the last thing you want is to lose a brush half way down.

I have an "emergency backup" rope that I tie to the brush, haven't had to use it yet though.

I went with rods and found that a dodge going into my stove caused an issue. I was lucky to be able to reach the brush and attach a rope.

If the brush is stiff and a bit snug- the bristles push back a bit and you can't draw it back up the pipe after a slight bend etc- you're committed. If you use a pole or not- attach a rope with a weight at the end and drop that down first.

 

[firefighterjake]

WOW! You are getting your flue cleaned for about half the going price, I hope they are doing the whole job. If you are going to do it yourself make sure you get a system with positive connections, the last thing you want is to lose a brush half way down.

I have an "emergency backup" rope that I tie to the brush, haven't had to use it yet though.

I went with rods and found that a dodge going into my stove caused an issue. I was lucky to be able to reach the brush and attach a rope.

If the brush is stiff and a bit snug- the bristles push back a bit and you can't draw it back up the pipe after a slight bend etc- you're committed. If you use a pole or not- attach a rope with a weight at the end and drop that down first.

Good to hear from you AP . . . haven't heard much from you other than the cool kiln photos you posted a while back.

 

[LLigetfa]

If the brush is stiff and a bit snug- the bristles push back a bit and you can't draw it back up the pipe after a slight bend etc- you're committed.

You might find that twisting the shaft while pulling up on it can help get the bristles to reverse. Practice it at the start to see how tight it is and how much effort it might take to reverse it.

 

[Cinnaman]

My chimney is about 25 feet tall and roof is fairly steep. I have a very straight shot from the bottom because I had a poured liner installed (inflated rubber tube method), no smoke shelf, chimney top damper. If you can reach the cap/chimney top damper with rods from the bottom, is there a reason to get on the ladder? Does the top 10 feet or so of the chimney need extra brushing from the top?

Dave