So I've watched my chimney get swept from the bottom up for the last couple years and figure I should be able to do this myself... Off I go and buy a set of rods and a nice new brush (metal).
Today was a nice day and I had a bit of time so off I go on the great new adventure.... I managed to get the ladder up and the cleanout cap off with no proplems. A little bit of fluff/flakes in the cap, realized I forgot to bring out a bag to dump it in... back on the ladder with a bag now and I dump this in.
I got the brush attached to the first section of pole no problem and started it into the bottom of the clean-out and it verified that I could reverse (whew!). Started up the pipe and guess what... I realized (under a dusting of black) that I should have attached a bag or something under the clean-out. Starting to feel a bit foolish here at this point as I get down again and find a bag to attach. Now I have the bag attached and stick another pair of poles on the end and start pushing it up the pipe.
All is going well and confidence is building until I hit the bend. Suddenly my progress comes to a halt. I back up and shove a bit harder a few times but I just can't get it to make the turn for some reason. I can push harder and feel the poles (3 4' sections at this point) bending inside and yet it still won't go past the the bend. So I cleaned up, closed up and headed in to make this post in hopes that someone will have a suggestion on where to go from here. Should I just shove harder? (Seems that will be hard unless I find a new way to stand the ladder up.) Should I consider a different brush or maybe trim/bend some of the leading edge of mine to help it navigate the turn?
I know the 'best' part of the dirt is up there waiting for me still. At least I have a few months to figure this out!
As usual, open to suggestions....
Thanks in advance!
Today was a nice day and I had a bit of time so off I go on the great new adventure.... I managed to get the ladder up and the cleanout cap off with no proplems. A little bit of fluff/flakes in the cap, realized I forgot to bring out a bag to dump it in... back on the ladder with a bag now and I dump this in.
I got the brush attached to the first section of pole no problem and started it into the bottom of the clean-out and it verified that I could reverse (whew!). Started up the pipe and guess what... I realized (under a dusting of black) that I should have attached a bag or something under the clean-out. Starting to feel a bit foolish here at this point as I get down again and find a bag to attach. Now I have the bag attached and stick another pair of poles on the end and start pushing it up the pipe.
All is going well and confidence is building until I hit the bend. Suddenly my progress comes to a halt. I back up and shove a bit harder a few times but I just can't get it to make the turn for some reason. I can push harder and feel the poles (3 4' sections at this point) bending inside and yet it still won't go past the the bend. So I cleaned up, closed up and headed in to make this post in hopes that someone will have a suggestion on where to go from here. Should I just shove harder? (Seems that will be hard unless I find a new way to stand the ladder up.) Should I consider a different brush or maybe trim/bend some of the leading edge of mine to help it navigate the turn?
I know the 'best' part of the dirt is up there waiting for me still. At least I have a few months to figure this out!
As usual, open to suggestions....
Thanks in advance!