D.I.Y Chimney Sweeping!

[St_Jacques]

Hi - Noticed on our last trip that many D.I.Y stores sell loads of Chimney Sweep brush sets.  Is it usual in France to sweep Chimnies yourself or do you advise getting a professional esp as it will be our first time!?!

If we do it ourselves any tips please?

Dale

[Baz]

Most Insurance companies if not all require one to have a certificate issued once a year by an approved Chimney sweep to show that the chimney has been swept. If a chimney catches fire, an insurance claim will not paid without an upto date certificate.

If one wants to clean their chimney more than once a year then DIY sets as you say are available from bricolages. In any event it is a messy job often with loads of soot so for a small cost leave it to the professional.

Baz

[Danglar]

I have a fiul heater at home.

Should I also have to arrange for the chimney to be swept , I wonder?

[LesLauriers]

[quote]I have a fiul heater at home. Should I also have to arrange for the chimney to be swept , I wonder?[/quote]

The guy we use sweeps the fireplace chimney, services the fioul boiler & sweeps it's chimney, so I think the answer is yes.

[Liz]

There are kits on the market that contain a log to burn that helps to dislodge the soot etc. You then finish off the job with a brush. These kits contain a certificate which you have to register with the manufacturer to show that the job has been done. I understand this satisfies the insurance requirements.

The only tip I know regarding brushes is not to turn them agains each other the 'wrong' way as you will then get bits of the kit unattached and stuck in the chimney. Somewhere in middle England is a chimney with our brush stuck in it!

Liz (29)

[Miki]

These kits contain a certificate which you have to register with the manufacturer to show that the job has been done. I understand this satisfies the insurance requirements.

Please do not rely on the certificate on the side of these boxes.

Any insurance agent we have ever known, simply tell us that in no way are those certificates a guarantee of the work being done properley, if at all anyway and if there was a fire, that "certificate" would not be seen to be of any consequence. We have always been told to get the chimney swept once a year and get the facture from a bone-fide ramoneur. You can often read that you should get the chimney swept twice a year, don't know anyone who does but we know of people who do it all themselves, going on the fact that if one does it properley, then there will be no chimney fire.

If the bouches were any good for the insurance companies, no one would bother to call out the ramoneur and simply fill in the box etc hoping all was well. We use them as a "plus" to the ramoneur's work but that's all.  

[Jackie]

Yes I have often worried about this one. I sweep the chimney twice a year. Really a simple job and hardly any soot.

Our set-up is a log-burning stove having a steel liner going right to the top of the chimney. I burn a chemical log before sweeping and do send off the certificates when the job is done. Some of the cheaper logs don't have a certificate. You can buy crystals to put in the fire from time to time and these, like the chemical logs, reduce the tar to powder making a fire less likely and making it easier to sweep the chimney clean. We always avoid burning pine and soft woods, as these have a high tar content, and only buy old oak or ash logs and ensure that they are kept in a dry place.

I would not like to put the certificate system described to the test but resent having to pay good money for something that I can do so easily myself. For general safety we don't leave the log-burning stove going all night so we arrange for it to be down to a dull glow by not feeding it about an hour before going to bed. The brickwork around the chimney is nice and warm by then and acts like a nightstore heater.

Like a previous poster I made the mistake of twisting the brush rods the wrong way and had to buy another brush to get the first one out; gives me a spare though! Still it is a bit of a worry if there was a fire but we hope that it will not happen!..................John in Dept 79 

[Diynovice]

[Diynovice]

Hi there   On this subject can any one offer any further advice?  We had our chimneys swept professionally last December (after purchasing our house) and received our certificate.  We do not live permanently in France (yet) and therefore have only lit a fire during last Christmas/New Year and this Easter.  Under these circumstances do we require to have them done again to meet nsurance requirements? Responses greatly appreciated.

[Jackie]

[quote]Hi there On this subject can any one offer any further advice? We had our chimneys swept professionally last December (after purchasing our house) and received our certificate. We do not live pe...[/quote]

I think that you would be best advised to talk to your insurance company to see what they require. I would in any case sweep the chimney again as you need to make sure that it is not blocked. Ours is visited each year in the late Spring by a swarm of bees and they nest there throughout the Summer. If your house is not occupied for some time there is an even greater risk that some bird will have nested up there. In a flue, such as we have, there is always the risk that the bees or birds will have blocked it with their nest so yes it does need sweeping before your first fire as a nest would burn rather well I think!..............John in Dept 79

[IAN_S]

We have had our one chimney that is used swept each year for around €60. I don't think this is a small sum for what took about 10 mins. max.

A neighbour said we should take the certificate to our insurance agent (AXA) as what would we do if it was destroyed in a fire?

We did that and were told that sweeping was NOT compulsory, although recommended, as long as the chimney was lined and the fire closed at night.

As has been said, I would not like to put it to the test!