How to Clean a Chimney

The seasons have changed and you no longer are using your woodstove or fireplace to keep you warm on those extra cold nights. That means its time to consider doing the yearly maintenance and clean the chimney. There are two options that must be considered in your plan to clean your chimney. They are should you do the work or should you hire someone else to do it.

If you want to do it yourself you must consider what this means. You must be prepared to buy the appropriate tools, which you can get at any store that sells wood stoves. Once you go to the store to buy the wire chimney brush, you’ll be surprised at how expensive it was! But you want to be certain you get the right one. You need to make sure the brush is the right size for your chimney. As well, be prepared to get dirty when you clean the chimney.

Before you start make sure that inside the fireplace you lay down a plastic sheet to catch anything that falls as you clean the chimney. Then when you’re done you will have to put everything that dropped down the chimney into garbage bags to throw out.

Before you clean your chimney make sure you’re wearing clothes that can get dirty. You should also wear a dust mask and gloves. Then get your ladder out and climb onto the roof. One way to use the brush is to tie it to a rope and dangle it down to clean as it goes. You’ll have to continuously drop it down and pull it up as you clean. Eventually it will clean out all the creosote and soot.

The downside to this option is that your roof can be a very dangerous place. Make sure that the day you clean your chimney is dry. A chimney can be very high, a roof very steep, and a ladder is not always the sturdiest piece of equipment. Be careful if you decide to clean your chimney yourself.

Therefore, for your own safety, you may decide that you should hire someone else to clean your chimney. There are many services that offer this option to you. The people who do this job still call themselves chimney sweeps. If this is your choice on how to clean your chimney then get quotes from a couple of companies before you decide on which one to use. They will all charge around the same fees so price is only one factor. Another is how soon they can come to clean. You also want to make sure that the company you hire is licensed, insured and bonded. This protects you in case there is an accident when the work is done.

The other advantage of hiring a company to do the work is that they will often recognize problems while cleaning that you might miss. Since the main reason to clean your chimney is not just to be sure it will work properly next time, but to prevent potential fires from blockages etc, hiring someone else becomes a very viable option.